


Bed of Roses

by phoenixnz



Category: Smallville
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-25
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-20 02:51:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 28
Words: 123,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3633933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixnz/pseuds/phoenixnz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One cold night Clark is walking the streets of Metropolis when he sees a woman crying through the window of her apartment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Alone

**Author's Note:**

> art by ctbn60

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark Kent is working as a florist and leading a double life.

“I don’t suppose you have any irises? I do so love them.”

Clark looked at his favourite customer. Lyn Kinsey was in the shop almost every other day buying flowers. He supposed the elderly widow was lonely. She had lost her husband four years ago and her children had all grown up and moved far away.

“I’m sorry, Mrs Kinsey, I’m fresh out. I could try and get some for you tomorrow though,” he answered, leaning on the counter holding back his strength just enough so the glass wouldn’t crack.

“Oh, you are a dear boy. It’s such a shame you’re on your own. Such a handsome boy like you I’m sure would be a good match for any girl.”

“Thanks, Mrs Kinsey, but I’m really not looking right now.”

“Oh goodness,” she smiled. “Of course. Pay me no mind.” She picked up her shopping bag and turned to go. “Are you sure you have no irises? I do so love them.”

“Maybe next time,” he smiled. “Good night, Mrs Kinsey. Be careful out there. It’s a little icy on the pavement. I wouldn’t want you to fall and break an ankle.”

Clark waited until the elderly lady had gone, then began packing things away prior to closing the shop for the night. It had been a quiet day, but it usually was in winter. Still, it was going to be Valentine’s Day soon enough and more customers would come in looking to please their spouses or girlfriends.

He sighed. His mother had once told him that while the holiday was a special day for some, she believed that the rest of the year was equally important in a loving relationship. His father had lived up to that the entire time his parents had been married. Growing up, Clark had often seen his parents cuddling together on the couch in front of the television. His father would often come in with a single flower, or something else he had found for Martha Kent to treasure.

Martha often said she didn’t need a holiday to offer proof that Jonathan loved her. It was there in the little things he did for her, like taking out the garbage, or rubbing her feet at the end of a long and tiring day working on the farm, even when he was exhausted himself.

Clark sighed again as he finished closing for the night and turned the sign on the door around to ‘closed’, pulling the security grille down to protect the front of the shop. Not that thieves would be interested in stealing from a florist. Especially this time of year when business was very slow.

Lifting his collar against the icy wind – not that he needed to, since he didn’t really feel the cold – Clark headed out through the dark evening, bowing his head against the elements as snow began to fall. As he reached the end of the street, he heard the unmistakable sounds of screeching brakes and the crash of metal colliding with metal. Glancing around him, Clark took off in the direction of the sounds.

Seconds later, he arrived at the scene of the crash. A car had clearly skidded on ice through the intersection, crashing into the driver’s side of another car which had been waiting for the lights to change. The car had been pushed by the momentum into a lamp post and the driver was trapped. Without hesitation, Clark pushed the two cars apart, pulling the door off its hinges so the young woman was free. He glanced at her to check she was otherwise unhurt and apart from a small cut on her forehead, she appeared to be fine. Then he took off into the night.

It had all occurred within two seconds.

The car accident wasn’t the only incident that night and Clark was kept busy running all over the city. He finally made it back to his tiny apartment in the heart of Suicide Slums around midnight. Clark grabbed enough ingredients to make himself a sandwich and ate it watching the news on television, keeping the volume low so as not to disturb his neighbours.

“And in our local feature tonight, we look at Metropolis’ mysterious Guardian. Just who is this guardian angel the entire city is talking about? Here’s Linda Lake with more.”

A blonde woman appeared on the screen, holding tightly to the edges of a wool coat with one hand and a microphone in the other, looking as if she was freezing as she spoke to the camera.

“Is he man or myth? Who is the man they call Metropolis’ Guardian and why does he hide in the shadows? Tonight we have heard of at least a dozen incidents in which this ‘Guardian’ has come to the rescue. But no one seems to know who he is. In fact, no one has ever seen his face. He seems to arrive quickly and is gone in seconds.”

Clark’s phone rang and he picked it up before he could get any complaints from the next apartment.

“Clark, what are you doing?”

“What do you mean, what am I doing, Chloe?”

“You know, Lana ...”

“Yes, I know,” he interrupted. “She always said if they found out what I was they would put me in a lab and dissect me. I know that, Chloe.”

“Well, shouldn’t you be ...”

“Lana’s not here, Chloe. Look, I appreciate the concern, but I need to do something.”

“What happened was not your fault, Clark. You have to believe that.”

“You don’t know that. I could have ...”

“Could have what? Clark, there was nothing you could have done to save them. Trust me on this. Going out there and trying to save the rest of the world isn’t going to change what happened either.”

“And I can’t just sit around and do nothing, Chloe. I hear them. Calling out for someone to help them.”

“Okay,” she answered softly. “Just ... promise me you’ll be careful, okay? I mean it, Clarkbar. I love you and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“I promise,” he told his best friend.

He cleaned up quickly and went to bed, falling asleep quickly. The dream started as it always did. Lana had been getting ready to go out, taking their baby daughter with her.

“Lana,” he began.

“Not now, Clark. I’m going to be late.”

“But we need to talk about this.”

“Clark, there’s nothing to talk about. I told you I don’t like the idea of you going out and using your powers. You know what will happen.”

“I know. They’ll put me in a lab and experiment on me,” he replied, repeating the phrase he’d heard so many times.

Lana canted her head, her brown-eyed gaze searching. She laid a soft hand on his cheek and smiled sadly.

“Honey, I know this is hard, but you have to let it go. For me. For Laura.”

Clark nodded, looking down at his baby daughter. The seven-month-old had eyes just like her mother’s, but the rest of her was all him. Black hair that tended toward unruly, long limbs and a dimpled smile.

She held out her chubby arms and Clark lifted her, breathing in her baby scent as he hugged her.

“We have to go,” Lana said softly. “I love you.”

“I love you,” he told her.

“I’ll see you tonight.”

He watched as Lana took the baby, carrying her out to the car, then turned back into the house with a sigh, shrugging his shoulders. They had a small organic vegetable crop and he needed to make sure the crops were protected from the frost. Winter had come early this year and the last thing they needed was to lose it all to frostbite.

He’d been working in the garden for an hour when his hearing picked up the sound of a car coming up the lane. He paused and looked up, shielding his eyes from the bright sunlight, frowning as he realised the car belonged to Sheriff Adams.

Clark put down his tools and walked over to the yard where the sheriff was waiting. He could see her grim expression.

“Mr Kent,” she said.

“Sheriff?”

She seemed to be steeling herself for something and Clark looked at her.

“I hate this,” she whispered. Clark managed to catch it with his super-hearing, an ability that had developed a couple of years earlier. She looked up at him.

“Mr Kent, I don’t like bringing bad news, but ...”

“What is it?” he said, his heart pounding.

“There was an accident. A truck ... on the highway ... skidded on some black ice. I’m so sorry. Your wife and daughter ... they’re gone, son.”

Clark fell to his knees, his mouth open in a silent scream. Then he woke up.

He sat up suddenly in his bed, his hands shaking as he combed his fingers through his hair. He looked over to the nightstand. The LED on the clock told him it was 2.25 am. He’d barely been asleep an hour.

Clark rolled over, balling up his pillow and laying his head back down to try to get back to sleep. Falling asleep was never the problem. Staying asleep, however ...

He once again began to dream, this time instead of the sheriff coming to visit, his super-hearing picked up the sound of the crash from roughly forty miles away. Dropping his tools, Clark ran. As he sped toward the scene, everything he passed moved slowly, as if he was observing a movie where the frames were running at one per second instead of twenty-four, or whatever it was. Even the exhaust from cars he passed on the highway seemed to be almost frozen, as if it had been hit by the cold air and instantly turned to ice.

As he made it to the scene, he saw his wife in the front seat of the car. Her face was covered in blood, the entire driver’s side of the car stoved in as if it had been hit by a battering ram, which probably wasn’t too far from the truth. The truck which had hit it side-on had bounced off, the driver throwing up on the side of the road. Lana was dead, her body broken. As Clark pulled the door off, he sank to his knees, screaming. The baby had been crushed in her car seat. She’d been too young to have developed invulnerability yet.

When Clark woke again, he got up, knowing there was no way he would ever get back to sleep again after the dream. He was just too shaken.

As he went to the kitchen to make himself a hot coffee, he glanced at the picture on the sideboard. It had been one taken of Lana and the baby when Laura had been just three weeks old. Lana had insisted on naming her after her mother and Clark hadn’t had the heart to suggest something else, even though the last thing he’d wanted was yet another reminder of the devastation he’d caused when he’d fallen to Earth.

It hadn’t happened exactly like the dream. Lana and the baby had still been killed instantly in the crash, but it hadn’t been winter. It had been the height of summer. They’d been fighting over his abilities and Lana hadn’t been going into town. She had been leaving him. Maybe not for good, she’d told him, but just for a while. She needed her space.

The truck driver had been drunk and should never have been behind the wheel. When Clark had learned that the man had already had several DUIs he was furious. It was not the first time the man had driven drunk but it was the first time he had killed someone.

He spent the rest of the night staring out into the darkness, waiting for the sun to come up.

Nell was already in the shop when he arrived at eight, half an hour before they opened. She smiled at him, handing him a take-out cup of steaming hot chocolate. Her smile quickly turned into a frown.

“You didn’t sleep again, did you?” she asked. “Are you having those dreams again?”

He sighed and nodded.

“Sweetie, you need to sleep.”

“Every time I close my eyes I keep thinking about what I could have done differently.”

Nell hugged him. “Oh honey, I know, but Lana wouldn’t want you to live like this. Why don’t you take some time off, maybe go down to the house in Smallville.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Too many memories.”

“Sweetie, it’s been three years. You have to let it go.”

“I can’t, Nell. It’s my fault they’re dead. Just like ... just like Mom and Dad.”

“Now, you listen to me, Clark Kent,” Nell said fiercely. “You were ten years old when your parents died. What happened to them was an accident. An accident! Not even you, with all your abilities, could change what happened. Baby, you can’t see into the future, and you can’t change the past, no matter how much you want to.”

Clark sat in the back office, sipping his hot chocolate while he checked over the paperwork, preparing for his work day. Nell worked in front, sweeping the floor and making sure everything was in its place. She finished just in time for their first customer.

It was quiet for sales. There were still two weeks to go to Valentines Day and Nell predicted they would have a boom in sales for the two days prior to the holiday and sales would drop off once again until late Spring.

Clark signed for a delivery and noted Mrs Kinsey’s promised irises were among the other blooms. As he began to arrange them, he heard the old lady’s voice and went out to greet her.

“Hello, Mrs Kinsey. Look what I have for you.”

The elderly lady’s face lit up in a brilliant smile.

“Oh, you are a dear, sweet boy.”

Nell laughed. “Clark’s hardly a boy,” she chuckled, smiling fondly at him.

“Oh, but to me, he is a boy,” Mrs Kinsey replied. “You remind me so much of my dear departed Arthur. He was such a gentleman. Do you know, he brought me irises the first time he came by the house asking my father for permission to court me. Oh, he was so handsome, my Arthur.”

“You must miss him,” Clark said as he wrapped up the flowers.

“I do,” she smiled, her eyes reflecting her sadness. “He was my dearest friend, and my husband. Are you married, Clark?”

The old lady seemed to have a touch of dementia, since she already knew that Clark was alone. Clark felt a twinge of sympathy for the older woman.

“No, ma’am," he explained patiently. "My wife died three years ago.”

“She was my niece, Lana,” Nell interjected softly. “I adopted her when her parents were killed and took Clark in when he was ten. They were high school sweethearts.”

“Forgive me for being a nosy old woman but how did ...”

“It was a car crash,” Clark answered, his voice barely above a whisper. Still, the old lady heard him as she nodded sympathetically.

“Never give up, my dear. Your Lana would not want you to be alone. No one should be alone.”

“That’s what I keep telling him,” Nell smiled.

“You have a kind heart and a gentle soul,” Mrs Kinsey told him. “One day, you’ll see. You will meet the young lady who will be like my Arthur was for me.”

Clark watched her leave with a smile.

“She’s right, you know,” Nell said quietly. “No one should be alone.”

“You are,” he pointed out.

Nell had dated his adoptive father in high school and had admitted she was more than a little put-out when he’d fallen for Martha Clark. She continued to think of Martha as an interloper because Clark’s mother had been from Metropolis. She wasn’t from Smallville and a small-town such as the one Clark had grown up in tended to look after its own. Still, once she had adopted Lana, Nell had become completely focused on raising her sister’s child after Laura and Louis Lang had been killed in the meteor shower in ’89.

Living so close to the Kent Farm meant that Lana and Clark played together as children, although Clark’s parents had been a little wary, especially since Clark was so much stronger than other children. Yet, he had seemed to have an innate sense of his own ability and realised very early on how fragile human children were, and had always been careful.

Nell had immediately offered to take Clark in after the accident which had killed his parents. He had a grandfather who lived in Metropolis, but the old man, who hadn’t known Clark existed, hadn’t wanted to take in a ten year old boy. Clark’s grandmother had died five years earlier and the old man had retired from his law practice. Nell eventually told him that William Clark hadn’t been happy when his daughter had married a small-town farmer, thinking Jonathan had been beneath her.

Of course, there might have been another reason why the man didn’t want Clark. When they’d been going over the farm, preparing it for sale, Clark had found his spaceship in the storm cellar. There had been a package which his parents had left, along with their wills, in a safety deposit box at the bank telling Clark the whole story of how they had found him in the cornfield the day of the meteor shower.

Having an alien for a grandson was probably just too much for the old man to take.

Clark supposed he was fairly lucky as kids went. He could have been placed in the foster system, bounced around from foster home to foster home. At least with Nell he could stay in Smallville.

That changed four years later when a deadly tornado struck the town. Nell met an insurance adjustor named Dean and decided to move to Metropolis with him when he asked her to marry him. Lana and Clark reluctantly left Smallville behind and moved to Dean’s house in the suburbs.

Nell and Dean divorced about a year after Clark and Lana married and moved back to Smallville to take over Nell’s old house, which she had never sold. Meanwhile, Lana’s aunt used the proceeds of the sale of the old movie theatre to invest in a small florist shop in central Metropolis. It didn’t make a lot of money but it was enough for them both to live comfortably. Lana had worked part-time until she’d had baby Laura and when she’d died, Clark had once again moved to the city to help Nell run the shop.

“Sweetie, please don’t use me as an excuse not to live your life.”

“I am living,” he told her. “I’m helping you.”

“But you’re not helping yourself,” she chided gently. “Clark, this isn’t living. This is just ... existing.”

“You don’t need me?” he asked, feeling a little hurt.

“Sweetie, I will always need you, but this isn’t who you are. You should be doing something with your abilities. I know you’re the one they’re calling the Guardian.”

“How do you ...”

“I may be old, Clark, but I’m not blind.”

“You’re not old,” he said in protest.

She snickered. “Tell that to the teenagers in my building,” she said wryly. “Anyway, don’t change the subject. Clark, you want to help people, but you can’t do that if you’re just sitting in a florist shop wasting your life away.”

“But Lana ...”

“Clark, I loved Lana dearly but she was wrong, about a lot of things. She thought you would be happy living with her in Smallville with your white picket fence and your little patch of Earth. You were meant for more than that. Your parents knew that and deep down I think you know it too.”

Another customer came into the shop and Nell went to help them. Clark watched her for a moment, then returned to the back office to see to the books. He’d always been good at maths and Nell had been more than happy for him to take over the book-keeping.

They closed the shop an hour later and went their separate ways. Nell didn’t mention their earlier talk and Clark didn’t broach the subject.

Not willing to go home just yet, Clark decided to walk around the city for a while. The streets were quiet. It had snowed again earlier and it seemed no one wanted to brave the cold, so he had no rescues to attend to.

As he passed by a tall brownstone, he glanced up at a brightly lit window. A woman was standing at the window with a cordless phone in her hand. Her expression suggested the conversation was not a happy one.

The woman was beautiful with long, wavy hair the colour of almost a chocolate brown and clear, unblemished skin. She appeared to be taller than Lana, who had been medium height, although it was difficult to judge given the distance.

He knew he shouldn’t eavesdrop, but there was just something about the woman’s face that made him tune in his super-hearing.

“Luce, I know you want to come, but you have a baby to take care of. There isn’t much you can do. There’s nothing anyone can do.” She listened for a few moments. “I don’t know. They won’t tell me much. You know what the military brass is like.”

She talked for a few more minutes, then hung up. As Clark watched, she put the phone down, then covered her face with her hands and started to cry.


	2. Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois finds a gift on her desk leading her to Nell's flower shop and Clark

Lois Lane threw her briefcase onto her desk with a heavy sigh. It had been another sleepless night, phoning all the contacts on her Rolodex just trying to find someone who could give her information that wasn’t classified. 

She sat down, her head in her hands, trying not to fall apart. It had been two weeks since her father had gone M.I.A while inspecting the troops in Afghanistan and no one would tell her a damn thing. Why her father had felt the need to go into a warzone in the first place was beyond her.

A gentle tapping on the top of her desk had her looking up.

“You look like crap, Lane,” Perry said.

“I was up all night trying to find someone who could tell me what the hell’s going on over there.”

Her editor-in-chief was sympathetic, but there was little even he could do. 

“Why don’t you take a couple of days off?” he asked kindly.

“I can’t, Perry. You know I can’t. I have that story on Intergang I’m still chasing.”

“You’re no good to us like this.”

“I need to keep busy,” she told him. Otherwise, she would go crazy, she thought. Working helped keep her mind off the thought that her father might be lying somewhere in the desert, injured, unable to get help.

Okay, quit it, Lane, she mentally berated herself. She had been imagining the worst for close on two weeks, ever since the general’s aide-de-camp had called and told her he was missing. 

She had racked her brains trying to think of anything but the worst case scenario. She had called everyone she could think of, asking them if there were any reports of any insurgents in the area, but none of them could come up with the goods.

The sound of a deep voice had her looking up and she tried to put on a brave face.

“Mr Luthor,” she said, for the benefit of the other reporters outside her office.

Lex Luthor smiled at her, then reached out, taking her arm. 

“I’ve been speaking with Perry,” he said. “If I may have a few moments of your time.”

“Of course,” she said.

She accompanied the bald billionaire out and down to the street. He started to lead her to a black limousine.

“Lex, I have a lot of work to do,” she began in protest.

“Lois, you’re exhausted,” he admonished her gently. 

She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“At least let me buy you a cup of coffee,” he said, indicating a coffee shop a short distance away. Lois sighed, but went with him.

“Is there no news?” he asked solicitously as they sat down in the coffee shop.

“No,” she sighed. “I’ve tried everyone I can think of but the brass won’t budge.”

“I can give Congressman Leonard a call. He has some pull with the military.”

“Thank you, Lex, but I doubt even Congressman Leonard can get it out of them.”

“I would still like to offer my assistance.”

“And I appreciate it, but I don’t know how much good it will do.”

Lois had met the young billionaire through her cousin, Chloe, who had known the man in Smallville. While they hadn’t been close friends or anything, Lex had taken a peculiar interest in Chloe’s stories on people who she claimed were infected by meteors which had hit the town more than twenty years ago. 

Lois had found the man to be charming, although part of her wondered if it was just an act. She had learned through several sources that Luthorcorp was involved in some kind of experimental project involving the green meteor rock, but she was yet to find proof. She often wondered if Lex was only allowing the relationship to continue to keep her from investigating him, but it only made her more determined.

Chloe had often suggested that Lex was one of the many who had been changed by the meteors, since he had been exposed at the time of the meteor shower. He’d once claimed that his so-called mutation had helped him when he had almost drowned after running his car off Loeb Bridge. A truck driver had pulled him out of the water, performing CPR. 

“Lois, don’t worry. I can contact a dozen people who will work day and night to determine what has happened to your father.”

“I can’t ask you to do that, Lex,” she said. “I could never pay you back.”

“It’s not about the money, Lois. I thought we were friends.”

“We are,” she said, “but I still can’t ask.”

“You’re not asking, I’m offering.”

She knew what he was doing. There was no denying that he was attracted to her, but she felt nothing for him. She’d tried. God knew, she’d tried, but no man had ever stirred her emotions.

Lex left soon after, promising to call her as soon as he had something to report, while Lois went back to her office. She stopped in the doorway, staring at the beautiful bouquet of yellow tulips. She glanced around, wondering who could have given her the flowers. It was not an elaborate bouquet, so it couldn’t have been Lex. She wasn’t even sure tulips were in bloom around Metropolis.

Still, someone had sent them.

She picked up the bouquet, sniffing the delicate fragrance. A card fell out of the gold paper used to wrap the bouquet and she picked it up.

There was no signature. All it said was: From A Friend.

It was a mystery, and one she was determined to solve. 

Lois left her office and grabbed Jeff, the intern.

“Jeff, did you see who left the flowers?”

He looked almost terrified as he stared at her.

“Flowers, what flowers?”

Well, that answered that, she thought. She grabbed another reporter, asking them the same thing. No one in the office seemed to know. 

Lois spent half the afternoon trying to find out who the ‘friend’ was but the more people she asked, the more annoyed they seemed to be. Perry finally came down to her office.

“Lane, what in the name of ...”

She looked up at her boss. “Perry, someone sent me flowers and I have no idea who.”

“And this is worth creating a ruckus in the entire office? Have you ever thought of actually asking the florist?” he said, handing her the card.

Lois stared at him, then down at the card, almost smacking herself in the head. Of course, she thought. She was an idiot!

A cold southeasterly was blowing as she left the office just after six and made her way to the florist, looking at the card to make sure she had the right address. It just said Potter’s Florist. She snorted, thinking with that name the owner might have come up with something a little more imaginative. 

The bell above the door announced her arrival as she stepped inside. The shop was open until eight, but it looked empty. A middle-aged brunette stood at the counter, sorting through some flowers. She was conservatively dressed, wrapped up warmly against the cold, although the shop wasn’t that cold.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“Um, someone sent me flowers but I don’t know who they were. I wondered if you could tell me.”

“Of course. I have a ledger I keep all my deliveries in. May I have your name?”

“It’s Lois. Lois Lane. I work at the Daily Planet.”

The woman frowned. “Well, I don’t recall any deliveries to the Daily Planet today, but I’ll look it up.”

She opened a large volume on the side of the counter, rifling through the pages. She turned back to her, frowning.

“I don’t see any delivery on my books for a Lois Lane or the Daily Planet,” she said. “Are you sure they were for you?”

Lois handed her the card. It had been addressed to her so there was definitely no mistake.

“Well, it is a mystery,” the woman said.

“I just don’t understand who would send me flowers anonymously. Maybe, uh, maybe the owner ...”

“I’m the owner dear,” she said.

“Well, maybe one of your employees ...”

“I only have one employee, and I doubt he would know. I’m very sorry. What kind of arrangement was it?”

“Tulips. Yellow ones.”

The woman’s face took on a strange look. Lois wondered if she did know who the gift had come from after all.

“Well, tulips are an uncomplicated flower. I do remember that arrangement,” she said finally, “but it was paid for in cash. We do have blank cards; perhaps they wrote it themselves.”

Lois sighed. The woman was clearly trying to be helpful but it wasn’t telling her what she needed to know.

“You don’t remember the buyer?”

“All I can tell you is it was a young man. He wanted to drop them off personally.”

Lois frowned. Surely security would have stopped him. Ever since Lex had taken over as publisher, security had been beefed up so no one could get in without a visitor’s pass at least.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help to you,” the woman said. 

“I’m sorry too,” Lois said softly.

“If you don’t mind my saying, you don’t look well. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. I’m just ... it’s just ... well, I’ve been having a bit of a rough time lately and when I got to my office and saw the flowers, it was just ... I mean, it had me wondering who would just give me flowers like that. See, there’s this man I’ve sort of been seeing. I mean, it’s not really like that. We’re friends, I guess, even though he’s sort of my boss, and I know he wants more, but ... I just knew he wouldn’t give me yellow tulips. He’s more of a roses kind of guy.”

“Perhaps the young man knew you were having a rough time,” the shop owner said.

“That’s just it. I don’t have that many male friends. Actually, I don’t have that many friends, period. I mean, my cousin Chloe, she’s like my best friend and she’s pretty much the only person I really talk to. Maybe if you gave me a description ...”

“I’m sorry. I really would love to help but perhaps the man who did this wanted to keep his identity a secret for a reason.”

“But why would someone do that?” Lois argued. “I mean, buy flowers for a complete stranger?”

“It has been known to happen.”

The cynic in her thought that was just asking for trouble. No one did anything for free these days. She should know, since she spent her time at work covering the aftermath of such incidents. Either the man was a hospital case or he was a stalker. That had to be it, she told herself.

The bell rang and a man came in. Lois turned to glance at him and did a double take. He was tall and broad-shouldered with what seemed to be a very impressive chest. He had clearly been out in the snow as his dark, wavy hair was covered in flakes. She studied his handsome face, slightly hidden by the heavy black frames of the spectacles he wore.

“Nell, I’ve finished with the deliveries ...”

He stopped mid-sentence, staring back at her, his expression very much resembling a deer caught in the headlights look. Lois was suddenly filled with a sense of certainty that this man not only knew about the flowers, but was very likely the one who had sent them.

“Clark,” Nell said. “This is Lois Lane. From the Daily Planet. Miss Lane, this is my foster son, Clark. He works with me.”

“Hello,” she said cautiously.

“Um, hi,” he said, blushing furiously.

There was utter silence in the shop as they stared at each other. Lois gathered her wits about her and looked at the older woman, who was smiling broadly. It was hard to tell whether the look on her face meant she knew exactly what Clark had done but Lois was fairly sure the woman knew at least the partial truth. 

“I should go,” she said. “I’m sorry to have taken up so much of your time.”

“Nonsense,” Nell replied. “You’re welcome to visit any time, Miss Lane.”

Again, Clark seemed to blush as he looked at her. Lois went to move past him to get to the door. The shop was fairly small and he took up a lot of room.

“Uh, ‘bye Clark,” she said.

“’Bye, Miss Lane,” he answered.

She returned to the office but only long enough to pick up the bouquet of flowers and head home. She took a frozen dinner of macaroni and cheese out and put it in the microwave to heat up, opening up her laptop.

“Tulips,” she said aloud, checking the search engine. 

Nell had said they were an uncomplicated flower. According to one site, a yellow tulip was meant to convey cheerful thoughts and sunshine. Lois frowned as she read. It seemed to her that Clark had wanted to cheer her up, but how had he known she was sad?

The microwave beeped and she took out the meal, grimacing at the gluggy mess. She grabbed a fork and picked at it, then decided to toss the lot in the trash. Sighing, she picked up her coat from the chair where she’d draped it earlier and grabbed her keys. It looked like she’d be eating takeout again tonight, she thought.

Lois was a hopeless cook. She supposed it stemmed from the years of living on army bases with her father. Her mother had been diagnosed with cancer when Lois was six and had died about two months after the diagnosis. Her father, ever the soldier, had done his best to cope with both his daughters but the then Colonel Sam Lane had spent far too much time on the field in battle to learn anything about the domestic side which Ella had been responsible for. What he knew about cooking and housework could be written on the head of a pin. Lois, and her sister Lucy, had been stuck with the food from the Mess.

She walked along the sidewalk, careful to avoid the slippery ice. A truck had been through earlier to lay down salt after the new snowfall but there were still parts of the sidewalk the salt hadn’t been scattered. Just as she passed an alleyway to cross over to the Chinese restaurant where she normally bought dinner, she felt a hand on her arm.

What happened next was almost a blur. She felt herself pushed out into the street, throwing up her arm to defend herself even as she saw the headlights coming toward her. No sooner had she done so then she was on her feet again and a man was laying on the ground beside her, appearing to be stunned. 

She started to bend down to check on the man and he disappeared before her eyes. Startled, she looked around for the man but didn’t see him. She frowned. How could a man be there one second and gone the next? Especially if he was unconscious.

She shook her head, deciding it wasn’t worth worrying about, then started to walk across the street. She noticed a dark shape lying on the road and bent over for a closer look, alarmed to discover it was a gun. 

Lois took her phone out of her bag and dialled a number.

“Perry? Lane. I think I was just saved from a mugging by Metropolis’ very own Guardian.”


	3. Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark saves Lois as the Guardian and is invited to a dinner party hosted by Lex. Lois is also invited. What mischief could Lex be up to?

Clark was relieved when Nell hadn’t said a word to him the rest of the day or as they were shutting up shop, although the expression on her face showed she knew what he’d done. He hadn’t expected Lois to come down to the shop and try to find out for herself, but he supposed that had been a little naive.

It had taken him several days to figure out who she was. There had been no name in the slot next to the apartment when he’d gone back to try to find her. Still, that hadn’t deterred him. He’d waited across the street from the building, hoping he would catch her and had spotted her two days later, coming down the steps. Clark had discreetly followed her as she walked to work.

He supposed it could be considered stalking, but for some reason, he’d felt a pull toward Lois. He’d learned her name after another two days of watching the Daily Planet and hearing someone call after her. A further search of the newspaper itself had revealed her last name. 

As he walked the streets that night, dressed in a black t-shirt and pants, covered by a black leather jacket, he thought more about the woman. He still didn’t know why she was so sad, but the little he had seen of her, he’d noticed her features were drawn and pale. She was clearly exhausted and her face had the pinched look of someone who had been crying a lot over the past few days. All he’d wanted to do was let her know that she wasn’t alone. That there was someone who cared.

As he walked, he found himself approaching her apartment building. Chloe would probably have laughed at him, telling him he was doing the same thing he’d once done with Lana. Despite the fact they’d basically been brought up as siblings, he’d always thought he’d had feelings for her. It wasn’t until they were actually married that he found himself wondering if that was really it. If there wasn’t something else out there for him.

The only reason he and Lana had got married in the first place was because she had become pregnant. They had both really been too young to get married, at nineteen, but Clark had chosen to do the ‘honourable’ thing. He had loved her, but there were times when he wondered if he had actually been in love with her.

It was one of the things they had been fighting about the day she had decided to leave Smallville and visit Nell for a while. Her aunt had just got divorced as well and Lana had wanted to spend time with her. 

Distracted, Clark didn’t realise Lois was walking in front of him until he looked up. She was just walking past an alleyway and was stepping off the kerb to cross the road when a man attacked her from behind. Clark immediately blurred into action, giving the mugger a tap on the head just enough to knock him out and grabbed Lois before she could fall into the path of an oncoming car, setting her down on her feet and speeding just out of sight.

Realising the mugger was starting to come to his senses, Clark once again returned to the scene and picked him up before Lois could realise what was happening. Without evidence, he knew the police would just let the man go, so he dumped him a few blocks away. By the time the man was fully conscious, Clark was miles away.

There were no other incidents that night and Clark returned to his apartment just before midnight, heating up a tv dinner with his heat vision. Just as he settled down to eat, his phone rang.

“You’re rescuing my cousin from a mugging now?”

“Huh?” he asked Chloe.

“I heard all about it,” she said. “I just got off the phone with Lois.”

He frowned. “Lois Lane is your cousin?”

“I told you about her, don’t you remember?”

“Chloe, I ...” He shook his head. He vaguely recalled Chloe mentioning a cousin who had been a year older, but not her name.

“She also said something about some tulips? Clark, what are you doing?”

“I was just ... trying to be nice.”

“I get that, but you might want to curb your stalker tendencies. Lois does tend to get a little obsessed about things and she’s going to be asking some pretty tough questions. I told you your big heart would get you into trouble one day.”

“Yeah, you did,” he said with a smile. “It’s just ... I don’t know what it is, Chloe. I just saw her one night and she was so sad. I just ... I needed to do something.”

“That’s what I love about you, Clarkbar.” Chloe’s voice was tender, but there was a slight edge to it. “Just ... don’t try to read more into it than there is already, okay? I mean, Lois is a lot of things but she doesn’t do relationships. I just ...”

“Don’t want me to get hurt,” he finished. Chloe meant well, but he was still big enough to take care of himself.

Chloe was his best friend. His only friend, really. They’d known each other since middle school when Chloe’s father had moved them to Smallville. Gabe Sullivan had taken up a job at the Luthorcorp fertiliser plant as a manager. A year later, Lex Luthor had moved in to oversee the plant. Clark really only knew the man in passing, having met him years earlier, but the young Luthor scion had shown an interest in Chloe’s articles on the meteor infected.

Once Nell had moved them to Metropolis, Clark’s friendship with Chloe had basically dwindled down to the occasional visit or emailing every week. Then Chloe had moved back to the city after high school graduation to study at Met U and she’d managed to get an internship at the Daily Planet. She was now the youngest deputy bureau chief at the newspaper but it hadn’t come without long hours and hard work and a lot of sacrifices. 

Clark went to bed late but for the first time in months he didn’t dream about the accident. He dreamed about a beautiful, tall brunette.

***

Lois was determined to find out more about Clark Kent so she googled him. There was a newspaper article about the death of his wife and child in the Smallville Ledger. Lois read the article, tears in her eyes. The article had gone on to explain that Clark had been orphaned at the age of ten when his parents had been killed in another accident. 

She was surprised to discover he had not only lived in Smallville, but had gone to Smallville High the same time as her cousin. 

She’d already told Chloe about the mysterious tulips the day before, and her theory that Clark Kent had left them for her. She was a bit annoyed that Chloe hadn’t told her she actually knew Clark.

It was time, she thought, for her cousin to answer a few questions. 

Chloe’s expression when they sat down at the coffee shop down the block suggested she knew exactly what Lois wanted to talk about.

“You want to know why I didn’t tell you about Clark,” she said. “Actually, I did. A few years ago.”

Lois frowned. She didn’t remember anything about ...

“Hey, wasn’t he that geeky guy who worked on the school paper with you?”

“Until Nell moved him and Lana to Metropolis. Yeah, that’s the guy. And he’s not a geek.”

“Well, it’s just the way you talked about him, I got the impression he was kind of shy and well, a little, you know, uptight.”

“Lo, if you’d been orphaned twice, you’d be a little reticent too.”

She raised an eyebrow at her cousin, pausing for a moment as the waitress brought their coffees.

“What do you mean he was orphaned twice?”

“Well, he was adopted by the Kents. I think his real parents died when he was about two and he lived in an orphanage for about six months before he was adopted.”

“That’s so sad,” Lois told her.

Chloe shrugged. “Even I know that sometimes bad things happen to good people. And Clark is a good guy, Lo. One of the best, actually.”

“So, how come he works in a florist?”

“Well, Nell took him in when the Kents died. She thought it was better than him bouncing around from foster home to foster home. She had a little shop in Smallville but she bought the new one when she got divorced from her husband.”

“And Clark’s wife? What happened to her? The article said she and the baby were killed by a drunk driver.”

Chloe nodded. “Clark still blames himself for it. Lo, you’re not ... I mean, I know you. You don’t do relationships. Are you interested in Clark?”

“I just wanted to know why he would leave me flowers, Chloe. I mean, he doesn’t even know me.”

“Well, that’s Clark. He does nice things for people.”

“But how did he even know where I worked? I mean, don’t you think that’s kind of creepy?”

“I’m sure that’s not how Clark intended it to be. Besides, you’re here asking me all these questions about him when really you should be talking to him about it all. Unless you think that will make you come off sounding kind of stalkerish.”

Lois bit her lip. Okay, point taken, she thought. Still, she couldn’t help but be intrigued by Clark. For someone who had seen so much tragedy in his life, she would have thought he would have backed off from doing anything for anyone, instead of leaving a gift designed to put a smile on her face.

Chloe sipped her coffee and grinned at her.

“So, tell me more about your little encounter with the Guardian.”

“Not much to tell, really. I mean, this guy tried to mug me and pushed me out into the path of an oncoming car. Next thing I knew he’s unconscious on the ground and I’m standing over him, then he’s disappearing right before my eyes.”

She’d done a little more digging on the mysterious Guardian as well. No one had ever seen his face, that she could learn, but there had been several saves over the past couple of years which could be attributed to him. A number of experts had expounded theories suggesting he was a meta-human but no one was really sure of the scope of his abilities. Strength and speed were a given, she thought, especially if he could come and go within the blink of an eye. The question was, where did he come from and how did he get those abilities.

Lois had been hearing several stories over the past few years of people who had strange abilities. There had been some circulating in Florida of a man who could swim like a fish and seemed to be able to breathe underwater. There were others of a young man who could run faster than the eye could see. In Star City, there were reports of a man dressed in green leather who seemed to be a modern-day Robin Hood and in Gotham a man dressed like a bat. 

She wondered if the Guardian was one of them. 

When she returned to the office, determined to dig up more about not only Clark but the mysterious Guardian, she found Lex waiting for her. He was sitting on the edge of the desk reading from one of the scrapbooks she had collated of her articles.

“I hope you don’t mind me invading your space,” he said.

“It’s fine,” she said, taking off her coat and hanging it on the rack. “Have you been here long?”

“Not long. Your collection of articles kept me entertained. You’re a very talented writer, Lois.”

She nodded her thanks at the compliment, wondering what he was doing. 

“Olsen told me you were having coffee with your cousin,” he continued.

“Oh, yeah. Just down the street.”

Jimmy Olsen was a photography intern who’d only just joined the paper a couple of months ago. He was a freshman at Met U. Chloe had once dated his older brother, who had also been called Jimmy, although it was actually his middle name. The couple had broken up after a few months and Chloe’s ex had moved to New York. 

She frowned slightly at Lex before sitting down at her desk.

“Uh, so what can I do for you,” she asked.

“It’s more what I can do for you. I’m hosting a dinner party tomorrow night and I’d like you to come. As my guest.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said slowly.

“I’ve invited General Cohen. I believe he has worked with your father before.”

It was just like Lex to dangle such a carrot. She knew Jacob Cohen, or at least, of him, and if anyone knew what was going on with the search for her father, he would. 

“Who else is coming to this dinner party?” she asked, knowing Lex was more than likely to set it up so she and Cohen were the only guests.

“Oh, just a few acquaintances,” he said, almost airily. “Some old friends of my father’s.”

Lex was up to something. She could practically smell it. He might be setting things up for her to score points but he clearly had some other business deals he was trying to put together. She had to admit he was shrewd. Then again, he was apparently a certified genius.

Chloe had warned her when she’d met Lex for the first time that he was one of those people who were deceptively smart in a lot of ways. He knew just what screws to turn to get someone to see things his way. Given his rumoured high IQ, he could have been anything he chose to be, but had instead followed in Lionel Luthor’s footsteps to become a ruthless businessman.

Lionel had been dead for about three years. Some had speculated that Lex had had him killed, or had done the dirty deed himself, but a source Lois had spoken to had told her Lionel had simply died of liver disease. It was his lifestyle, they said. Too much hard drinking, too much stress and too few vacations. 

Lex knew very well she couldn’t turn down a chance to find out more about her father’s predicament and Lois found herself agreeing to go. 

“I will pick you up from your apartment at seven,” he said as he stood up to walk out the door.

“You will? Uh, don’t you have a driver?” she asked.

He smiled briefly. “Indulge me. It isn’t often I get to show off to a beautiful woman.”

Lois was nervous the next evening when she dressed for the dinner party. She had already rejected several outfits. Some for being too conservative and others for being too sexy. She didn’t want to give Lex the wrong impression.

She finally settled on a black knee-length wool dress that hugged her curves yet showed very little in the way of skin. Her hair was long and loose with a few soft curls to add body. 

Lex knocked on the door precisely at seven. Lois picked up her purse and went to the door, unhooking the chain and unlocking each of the five deadbolts she had had installed. The bald billionaire smiled at her.

“You know, you really should check before you open the door. I might be an axe murderer or something.” He laughed at his little joke. 

“Uh, I guess,” she said, anxious to leave. Lex paused in the doorway, looking around him.

“I like the way you decorated your apartment, Lois.” He seemed to have spotted something and came all the way in to the room. “Tulips?” he said, going to touch one of the delicate petals.

“A gift. From a friend.”

“I dated a girl once. She loved white tulips. They wouldn’t be from an admirer would they?” he asked almost coyly.

Subtle, she thought, taking his arm.

“Lex, you have no reason to be jealous. Like I said, they were a gift from a friend. Shouldn’t we be going? You don’t want to keep your guests waiting.”

“Of course, how silly of me,” he said, his hand tightening around her arm. 

Lois had heard Lex had a reputation for fast driving, but she hadn’t believed it until she experienced it.

“Auditioning for NASCAR?” she asked as he sped through the streets.

“Surely my driving isn’t that fast?” he asked mildly.

“That depends on which Andretti you’re channelling,” she retorted. He laughed.

“I’ve always enjoyed your wit, Lois.”

She bit her lip. This was going to be one hell of an evening.

***

Clark fidgeted nervously next to Nell, wondering what on Earth he was doing here. 

“Sweetie, what’s wrong? You seem very nervous.”

“What are we doing here, Nell?”

She looked around at the other guests. Most of them were property owners in Smallville.

“I wish I knew,” she said. “Of course, I knew Lionel years ago, but as for his son ...”

Clark remembered an incident that had happened years ago, not long after he had gone to live with Nell. They had gone to the city so Lana could participate in a riding competition. Since Nell and Lionel had some mutual business interests, the older man had invited them to stay over at the Luthor mansion. Clark and Lana had gone to check out the indoor pool and had found Lex skinny-dipping with a girl. 

Clark might have only been ten and rather naive, but it had been fairly obvious what Lex was doing. Lionel had been furious with his son for his behaviour. Lex had been totally unrepentant and had taken off shortly after.

When Lex had first come to Smallville, Lana had been the one to mention their brief meeting. Clark had been too embarrassed when he’d met the bald man at school. 

He’d been curious when he’d received the invitation to a dinner party at Lex Luthor’s penthouse. After all, Lex had barely spared him a passing glance when he’d come to talk to Chloe about her articles. What possible reason could he have for wanting to talk to Clark now?

He felt like he stuck out like a sore thumb at this party. He didn’t know anyone there, although he was aware that some of them had been neighbouring farmers in Smallville. The only one he did know was Ben Hubbard, since he was the only one who had continued to talk to Clark after his parents died. 

The chatter dropped and Lex came in, escorting a woman. Clark was stunned to realise it was Lois Lane. Were they dating? he asked himself. 

Lois didn’t seem all that happy to be there, darting Lex looks as he made his way into the room and introducing her with a possessive hand in the small of her back. She didn’t strike Clark as the kind of woman who enjoyed proprietary gestures and from the expression on her face he could see she was definitely not happy with Lex for doing it.

Lex approached Nell with a smile on his face, taking her hand and kissing her cheek.

“Nell. It’s wonderful to see you. I haven’t seen you since my father died.”

“Hello Lex. You’re looking well,” Nell greeted him politely. 

Lex turned to Clark and shook his hand, the smile on his face reminding Clark of something he’d once seen on a nature program. Like the smile of a predator about to strike his prey.

“Clark. I’m glad you could make it. This is a friend of mine, Lois Lane.”

He propelled Lois forward so suddenly her heel caught on the plush carpet and she almost fell. Clark reached out to steady her.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she said, shooting Lex a look. The bald man had already moved on to greet someone else. “I didn’t know you knew Lex,” she continued.

“Nell more than me,” he said. “Well, she knew his dad a few years back but we haven’t had a lot to do with the Luthors.”

“So, um, I hear you know my cousin.”

He nodded, feeling his face grow hot.

“Chloe. She told me she’d talked to you.”

“She, uh, told me about ... your family. I’m sorry, Clark. I lost my mom when I was six so I kind of know how you feel.”

She couldn’t possibly, he thought, but he appreciated the sentiment all the same.

Lex returned and guided Lois away to talk to someone else. She sent Clark an apologetic look, even as the other man began murmuring something to her. Clark was tempted to eavesdrop with his super hearing, but decided against it. 

They sat down to dinner around eight. Clark was quick to notice that Lois was told to sit as far away from him as humanly possible. He had to wonder what Lex had seen between him and Lois that had him feeling so threatened. 

Meanwhile, Lois was talking to an older man who had the posture of someone who had spent some time in the military. He sat with his back straight, his manner almost stiff. Lois was talking animatedly, waving her hands. The man kept shaking his head and she began looking more and more upset. Unable to help himself, Clark listened in.

“You have to tell me something,” she said. “Someone has to know what happened to my father.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Lane, you know your father’s work is mostly classified.”

“He’s been M.I.A in Afghanistan for three weeks and you’re telling me it’s classified? How can a man missing in the desert be classified?”

“Is the food not to your liking?” 

Clark turned and looked at Lex, startled. He’d barely touched the food on his plate and the other man was gazing pointedly at it.

“Oh, no, it’s delicious,” he said, hurriedly taking a bite of the chicken. “I’m a little curious though. Why did you invite me here tonight? I mean, we hardly know each other.”

“Except that we both lived in Smallville for a time,” Lex said. “Clark, it’s very simple. I have a business proposition for you.”

He blinked. “Business proposition?”

The bald man nodded. “I know that most of the farm was sold after your parents died, but you still have about twenty acres. Luthorcorp is interested in buying it.”

Clark stared at him. Sure, most of the farm was gone, but there was still the homestead and the small parcel of land surrounding it. His grandfather had left it in trust for him until he was old enough to decide what he wanted to do with it, but he’d always been reluctant to sell it, since it was the only piece remaining of his parents’ legacy. 

What on Earth could Lex want with the land?


	4. Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meeting with Lex and a chance meeting with Lois has Clark thinking about his future. He overhears something which tells him Lex is scheming something to do with Lois.

“Sweetie, what’s wrong?”

Clark looked at Nell as they worked together to sweep the shop and make it ready for opening.

“I don’t know,” he sighed.

“You’ve been upset since that dinner with Lex the other night.”

“He wants to buy what’s left of the farm. Nell, that was my home. It’s been in the Kent family for generations. Why would he be interested in it?”

“Well, maybe that’s something you need to investigate,” she said quietly. “I remember when you were a freshman in high school, you and Chloe used to investigate all manner of things for the school newspaper.”

“I don’t do that anymore.”

She frowned. “I never understood that,” she said. “Clark, honey, you’re meant for so much more than selling flowers.”

“But I’m helping you,” he said reasonably, well aware that they’d already had this conversation far too many times in the past. Nell often told him he was as stubborn as his father.

“I know, sweetie, but this isn’t the life I wanted for you. I’m sure it’s not the life your parents wanted for you either.”

Clark sighed heavily, leaning on the broom.

“Nell, I ...”

“Clark, I love you dearly. You were always a good boy and you’ve become the kind of man I can be proud of, but I want more for you than this shop.”

“But Lana ...”

“Lana would have realised eventually that she was holding you back. Clark, why don’t you take some of the money your parents left you and enrol in some classes at Met U? See what’s out there.”

Once the farmland had been sold, there hadn’t been much left over after the mortgage had been paid but there had been enough for Clark to go to college. His grandfather had insisted the money be held in trust until he turned eighteen and Clark had invested it. 

“I don’t know,” he said slowly. 

“Clark, I don’t mean to be blunt, but really, this shop is far too small for two of us. I could get by with a part-timer. I want you to really think about this. And think hard.”

He bit his lip, then went back to sweeping, turning the sign around on the door when it was time to open. There were no customers waiting outside, despite the unseasonably warm weather. He had to admit that Nell was right about one thing. They really didn’t do enough business to justify her keeping him on full-time. The only reason she did was because he was her foster son, and nephew by marriage. Nothing else. 

Business was slow for the next couple of days and Nell told him to take a few days off. Faced with nothing to do, Clark took her advice and checked out classes at Met U. He was told he could take a couple of classes but he couldn’t enrol full-time until the Fall. They did have a good journalism program which sounded interesting.

Back when he had been a sophomore, the school board had hired a new principal, Mr Reynolds. The man had decided that Clark was a bit of a slacker and needed to be brought into line, so he’d had him write an essay on where he thought he might be in five years’ time. Clark had written that he would be in college, probably studying journalism. He had enjoyed working on the Torch with Chloe and considered himself to be a fairly decent writer. 

When he wasn’t out trying to help out as the Guardian, Clark spent the time pottering around in his little apartment. He was surprised when he received a call from Lex.

“I wondered if you would like to meet me for lunch,” Lex said.

Clark’s immediate thought was that Lex was still trying to persuade him to sell the land and his first instinct was to refuse, but he decided it couldn’t hurt to hear the man out. Not that he was planning on selling. Someone had already tried once and Clark wanted to preserve what was left of his parents’ legacy.

When he had been a freshman, a man named Bob Rickman had come to Smallville, looking to build a pesticide plant and he had decided what remained of the Kent farm would be the perfect location. He had tried to persuade Clark to sell and when that hadn’t worked, had tried threats and murder. Chloe had helped him investigate Rickman and, along with a man who had once worked with Rickman, the sleazy businessman had been put away. 

Rickman had found Clark to be a tough customer, and so would Lex.

Clark met the billionaire at an exclusive restaurant, feeling very out of place. Lex was charm itself, ignoring the manager’s look of disdain at Clark for his casual clothes. Every other diner in the restaurant was wearing what Clark took to be designer threads and very out of his price range. 

“Clark, I’m glad you could make it.”

“Uh, thank you, Mr Luthor.”

The other man smiled. “Lex, please. Mr Luthor was my father.”

Clark nodded and smiled back, still feeling a little uncomfortable with the situation.

“What would you like to drink? They have an excellent Sauvignon, from the Napa Valley.”

“Um, just water, please,” he said, fidgeting nervously. “I don’t really drink.”

Well, it wasn’t like it actually affected him, he thought. Lex looked surprised.

“Really? You’re missing out on an experience.”

Clark just nodded. Lex waved his hand at the waiter and ordered a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon to be brought to the table. He continued to watch as Lex ordered expensive appetisers, from escargot to caviar. None of it sounded appealing to Clark. 

“So, tell me a little about yourself Clark.”

“Um, what do you want to know?”

“Your parents died when you were ten?”

He nodded. “Car crash. I don’t like to talk about it much.”

“You were married?”

He nodded again, feeling almost like a ventriloquist’s dummy, his movements almost as if he was being manipulated.

“My wife and daughter were killed by a drunk driver.”

“Yes, I read about that.”

Clark had the impression Lex had had him investigated very thoroughly, which didn’t make him at all comfortable. The other man continued to ‘interrogate’ him for a few minutes.

There was a brief lull in the conversation as the appetisers were brought out. To Clark, it looked like Lex was trying to ‘woo’ him or something because the man barely touched the food, pushing it on Clark. To be polite, Clark took the bite-sized piece of toast spread with caviar and sour cream and ate it, trying not to grimace at the taste.

“Lex, why did you ask me here?” he said.

“I wanted to get to know you.”

“Why?”

“Because I think we could be good friends, Clark. I know we had very little opportunity to get to know each other in Smallville, but I’ve heard that you’re a man of integrity. That’s rare in my world.”

Why did Clark have the feeling that Lex was fishing for something?

Lex asked him what his plans were, suggesting that he couldn’t spend the rest of his life working as a florist. Clark ended up admitting that he and Nell had been discussing the same thing and that he had been considering enrolling at Met U.

“I know someone you should talk to,” Lex replied. “Perry White. He’s the editor-in-chief at the Daily Planet. I’m sure I can talk him into seeing you and perhaps employing you. At least part-time until you get your degree.”

“Um, thank you, Lex,” he said, wanting to tell the man he would rather not owe him any favours. He had the impression it would make very little difference.

Nothing was mentioned at all about the land Lex wanted to buy, which was odd in itself. Clark left almost two hours later still trying to figure the man out.

***

Lois was still trying to get a bead on what was going on at army headquarters. Jake Cohen had tried to help but he really hadn’t been much help at all. He kept telling her that his hands were tied for the simple fact that her father’s mission in Afghanistan had been classified. 

Frustrated at the lack of news, Lois had walked out of the Daily Planet hoping a little fresh air would help get her mind off it. She hadn’t expected to bump into Clark Kent on the sidewalk. Literally bump into him that was.

“Ow!” she said.

“Um, Miss Lane, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there,” Clark said.

“Well, that’s kinda obvious!” she snapped, then realised what she had said. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Not really, no.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“With you?” she said, looking up at him. This close, she could see he was very tall and very well-built. 

Clark seemed to be trying for a disarming smile.

“Well, I have been told I’m a good listener.”

“Um, sure,” she said. “I could use a coffee anyway.”

She walked with him to her favourite coffee shop a couple of blocks from the newspaper office. He watched, his mouth upturned in amusement at her complicated order.

“What?” she said.

“It must run in the family,” he replied. “Chloe orders almost the same thing.”

She chewed on her lip. “Oh, right. I forgot you and Chloe were close. Did you and she ever ...”

He frowned at her for a moment, then it was as if a lightbulb had been switched on over his head.

“Oh. No. We’re just friends. Good friends. Lana was her best friend.”

“Lana?” Lois raised her eyebrows. “Oh. Your wife.”

The girl on the counter handed Lois her coffee and they sat down at a table. She noticed that Clark had ordered just a simple flat white.

“I would have thought you’d be working at the shop,” she said.

“It was quiet, so Nell told me to take a few days off.”

She studied him for a moment. He seemed a little uncomfortable under her gaze but said nothing.

“You know, I can’t quite picture a guy like you as a florist.”

“Uh, well, it helps pay the bills,” he said. 

“You never thought of doing anything else? Chloe said something about you working on the school paper with her.”

“Yeah, I did for a while. The truth is, I was considering enrolling in classes at Met U. Well, Nell kind of pushed me into it.”

“Hey, don’t ask me about higher education,” she told him. “I got kicked out of Met U my first semester. Under-age drinking.”

She’d been extremely lucky she’d only been kicked out for that instead of assault. Not that she’d actually assaulted anyone. A few fraternity boys had challenged her in a drinking game, not realising that she’d spent half her teenage years drinking with Green Berets and Navy Seals. One of the frat boys had come on to her and she’d shoved him just hard enough to make him land on his butt. Police had arrested her the next day after the youth had been found paralysed, but Chloe had helped her prove her innocence, almost getting herself killed in the process.

Clark frowned at her.

“So, how did you end up a reporter without a college degree?”

“Oh, I never said I didn’t get a college degree. My father put his foot down. It was either shape up or ship out.”

“So ...”

“So I went to Kansas State. It doesn’t have as good a journalism program as Met U, but it’s still good.”

“What made you choose journalism for a career?”

“I had to repeat my senior year at Smallville High and there was this girl. Abby. She’d had plastic surgery, at seventeen, mind you.”

Clark frowned. “Wait. I think Chloe told me about this. You wrote that story?”

“Yeah.” Lois laughed softly. Some of the students had sent in emails to the paper saying her story had ‘changed their life’.

She had talked Chloe into talking to Lex, hoping he would persuade the dean at Met U to overlook her lack of credits and had got into the university after only a few weeks at the high school.

After the infamous Met U incident, in which she and Chloe had managed to break a story about college athletes faking drug tests, she had begun to see the potential in journalism as a career. 

“So, what were you considering studying?” she asked.

He grimaced. “Uh, actually, journalism. I mean, I worked with Chloe for about a year or so on the Torch and I did spend some time working on the Met High paper when I was there.”

“Why did you move?” Lois asked curiously.

“Well, Nell met this guy after the tornado. Dean. He’s an insurance adjustor. They decided to get married a few months later and we had no choice but to move to the city. Nell and Dean got a divorce a few months after Lana and I moved back to Smallville.”

She saw his expression change from one of resignation, to fond recollection, and then to sadness. She guessed Smallville held a few memories for him, both good and bad. 

Clark sighed softly, then sipped his coffee.

“Um, so why were you upset?” he asked, clearly eager to change the subject. Lois knew she couldn’t avoid it, and maybe talking it over with someone who didn’t have such a vested interest would help.

“My father went missing while he was on a mission in Afghanistan. I’ve tried all the top brass in the military but they either can’t or won’t help. They keep saying it’s classified.”

“It must be frustrating,” he said. 

“The thing is, I get it. I mean, my dad’s been practically all around the world on these missions and you know, being a general, it’s his job. I just wish ...”

“You wish he’d spend more time at home,” Clark finished.

“See, my mom died when I was six and it’s like he suddenly forgot he had two daughters who just needed a father, not a military commander.” She found herself telling him about her father executing a ‘chain of command’. He would give the orders and she would pass them down the line, so to speak, making sure her sister obeyed the rules.

Clark shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess maybe it was his way of coping.”

“I know he loved my mother very much and he took it hard when she died.”

He nodded, his expression showing complete understanding.

“Tell me about your parents,” Lois said softly. 

“Well, my mom was from Metropolis and she met my dad when he came up to do a finance course at Met U. My dad was a fifth generation farmer. He spent practically all his life on the farm.”

“From what Chloe tells me, they were highly respected in the community.”

“Yeah, they were.”

“She said you don’t like to talk about the accident.”

He grinned suddenly.

“Is this an interview, Lois?”

She laughed, a little sheepish. “I guess it does sound that way, doesn’t it?” She reached out and touched his hand. “I just really want to get to know you, that’s all.”

He looked a little uncomfortable at her touch, withdrawing his hand as if he’d experienced an electric shock.

“Lex kind of said the same thing,” he told her.

“Lex?”

“He asked me to lunch earlier.”

She chewed on her lip. “Clark, I think it only fair that I warn you about Lex. You can’t trust him.”

“So why are you ...”

“Okay, you’re right. He offered to help me find out what happened to the general and I am using him, I guess, but ...”

“The other night, he seemed kind of possessive.”

She grimaced. “Yeah. He does give that impression.”

“Are you, um, seeing him?”

“No,” she said emphatically. “I mean, I know he wants to and he keeps asking me out, but I’m not interested in him like that. I don’t really have time for relationships.”

“Because you’re so focused on your career?” He nodded. “I can understand that. After Lana, I ... well, I kind of shied away from relationships.”

“You must miss her very much.”

“I do,” he said. “Losing her and Laura ... I mean, there are so many times I wish I could go back in time and prevent it, but ...”

She grasped his hand again. “You can’t think like that. I mean, you can’t change the past, no matter how much you want to.”

“I know,” he sighed. “Still ...”

“Clark, Chloe told me you blame yourself for the accident. You shouldn’t. I mean, I read the article in the Ledger.”

He looked a little alarmed. “You read ...?”

“Hey, like you can talk,” she said, opting for a teasing tone. “You’re the one who left me flowers anonymously. Why did you anyway?”

“I was out walking one night and I saw you in the window of your apartment. You were crying.”

Lois realised it must have been shortly after she had heard about her father. As much as she wanted to admonish Clark for what he’d done, especially as it really was a huge invasion of her privacy, she realised that he really did have only the best of intentions. He was clearly as gun-shy as she was when it came to relationships. 

Her phone beeped with a text message. Jimmy.

_911\. Perry’s looking for you._

“Everything okay?” Clark asked.

“Yeah, it’s fine. Just Perry on the warpath. This was nice, Clark. Thanks for listening.”

He smiled. “You’re welcome. Uh, any time you need a listening ear ...”

She grinned, handing over her phone. “Tell you what. You give me your cell number and I might just take you up on that.”

He quickly added his number to her contacts list and handed the phone back. Lois got up to leave, pausing at the door to give him a brilliant smile. Maybe nothing had been resolved, but it really had felt good to talk to someone who wasn’t part of her trusted inner circle. She had a feeling he wouldn’t be on the outside for very long.

***

Clark was surprised once again to get another call from Lex the next day telling him to report to Perry’s office at two o’clock that day. He did so, nervously knocking on the door and waiting for the man’s order to enter.

Lex was sitting on the couch beside the huge desk, looking relaxed and casual.

“Clark,” he smiled. “Good to see you’re punctual.”

“Mr Luthor.”

“Lex, remember?” the man reminded him.

He nodded and shrugged. Another man stood up from the desk, holding out a hand. Clark looked him over. He was in his fifties with sandy-blond hair which was thin on top. 

“Perry White,” the man said. “You’re Clark Kent?”

“Yes sir.”

“Spent a couple of weeks in Smallville a few years ago. Investigating some oddities.”

“Uh ...”

Lex distracted them. “Perry, I’ll get out of your way.” He got up and left, closing the door behind him. Perry told him to sit down and make himself comfortable.

“You’re a friend of our publisher?” he asked.

“Uh, not exactly, sir,” he replied.

The other man nodded. “Tell me about yourself. How old are you?”

“I’m twenty-three, sir. Twenty-four in May.”

“What brought you to the Daily Planet?”

Clark found himself liking the older man as he began telling Perry about growing up in Smallville, the deaths of his parents and his marriage to Lana. The older man was alternately sympathetic and amused as Clark told him of his various investigative exploits with Chloe and his time working for the Smallville Torch. 

“What about an education, son? You know, we can’t just hire anyone who walks in off the street, no matter who they are friends with.”

That was fair, Clark thought. He told Perry of his thoughts of taking classes at Met U.

“I know I’m green, sir, but I’m a hard worker.”

“I appreciate that, son, but no matter what Lex promised you, I can’t just hire you right off the bat.”

“I’m not asking for a handout sir. The truth is, Lex ... well ...”

“Lex told you he could get you a job here.” Perry nodded knowingly. “Lex may be my boss, but when it comes to reporters, I have a say in the hiring and firing. I do appreciate you coming in though.”

The door was flung open and Lois came barging in. 

“Perry, I think I’ve got something on this Intergang ...” She stopped, gazing at Clark. “Uh, Clark. Hi.”

“Hi Lois,” he said, feeling a little sheepish. She seemed to give herself a mental shake.

“Uh, what was I saying?”

“What about that fluff piece I gave you?” Perry asked. 

“You know I don’t do fluff pieces.”

Clark frowned. What on Earth was a fluff piece? Perry saw his frown and started to explain. 

“Father of five drowned last year saving his second-youngest child. Wife was pregnant with their fifth at the time.”

Lois rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

“Maybe I could ...” Clark suggested hesitantly. “I mean, on a ... a freelance basis.”

Perry thought it over, for about five seconds, then handed over a thick folder.

“Tell you what, kid, you do a good job on this, we might see about getting you a job here.”

Clark grinned. “Thanks Mr White. I won’t let you down.”

He left the office, still grinning as Perry began lecturing Lois on the proper respect to show her editor. As he walked toward the stairs, he saw Lex in another office speaking agitatedly on a phone.

“I don’t care how much noise he’s making,” he was saying. “You need to keep him under control. No, you listen to me. My plan is starting to come to fruition and I do not need the likes of Sam Lane ...”

Clark frowned. What was this about Lois’ father, he thought, deciding to use his super-hearing.

Unlike most of his other powers, the super-hearing was the hardest one he’d had to learn to control. Nell had tried to ease his anxiety about his emerging abilities but she really had had no idea how to deal with it. As loving a foster mother as she was, she just wasn’t equipped for it. Clark’s abilities had been one of the major issues in Nell’s marriage to Dean, although the couple had been careful not to place blame. 

When Clark had first begun to develop the super-hearing, any noise had felt like someone was setting off a percussion in his head and it had hurt like hell. He’d found himself retreating to a quiet corner of the apartment, refusing even Lana’s attention. It had been unbearable for the first few days until he’d learned to filter out the sounds.

Clark listened in on the conversation, slowly coming to the realisation that Sam Lane’s disappearance had nothing to do with any insurgence in Afghanistan. Lex had forced someone to arrange an accident, keeping the general and his men detained in some twisted plan to make Lois turn to him. He was clearly trying to use it to seduce Lois. The question was, why? Why would he continue to pursue someone who clearly didn’t want that kind of relationship with him? It just added to the mystery that was Lex Luthor.


	5. Hood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark writes his first story for the Daily Planet and a hooded man prowls the streets of Metropolis

“Okay, Clarkbar, you’ve been fidgeting like you’ve got ants in your pants for the last hour. What’s up?”

Clark frowned at Chloe. They normally met up for a quiet dinner once a week, if possible, or if not, when they could. Today, she’d chosen a small diner outside of the city. It had a reputation as being a rough place, since it was more or less a truck stop, but Chloe had always been fearless and she never worried about such small details.

“That sounds like something your dad would say,” he said.

“But true, nevertheless. What’s going on? I know you went to see Perry yesterday about a job, but ...”

He shook his head and lifted his coffee cup, taking a small sip, grimacing. The coffee was stone cold. He glanced up toward the counter but the sole waitress was busy with another customer. 

“Clark, don’t avoid the subject.”

“It’s not about the job, Chloe. It’s ... well, what if you heard something that you know could very well hurt another person, but if you don’t tell them you’ll be doing them just as much of a disservice?”

Chloe frowned. 

“Are we talking a hypothetical situation or ... no, it wouldn’t be would it? I guess I’d have to say it depends on what you heard.”

He sighed. He’d known this was going to be a dilemma. He’d been debating in his head all through their dinner whether he should say something to his friend. After all, she was Lois’ cousin as well.

“I can’t tell you,” he said finally. “It’s just ... well ... someone will be hurt if I tell them what I heard. But they’ll be hurt just as much if I don’t tell them.” He knew he'd basically just repeated what he'd just said, but it was worrying him. 

She chewed on her lip, then picked up her own coffee cup, scowling as she sipped.

“This coffee’s cold.” She waved it in the air. “Excuse me,” she said loudly. “Could we get a refill?”

“Chloe, don’t,” Clark said softly. “It looks like the waitress is on her own tonight.”

“So?”

He shook his head and sighed. “You and your coffee addiction.”

She grinned unrepentantly. “I’m not addicted,” she said. “I just happen to like coffee.”

“And a lot of it,” he muttered.

“Well, not all of us can get our wake-up juice from, you know, other means.” 

The waitress came over, looking extremely apologetic.

“I’m so sorry. Our other waitress is out sick. Let me refill those for you.”

Chloe beamed at her, then looked back at Clark with a shrug. The waitress took away the cups and returned a minute later with fresh coffee for them both.

“There you go. Can I get you anything else?”

“You know, I think I’ll try the pie. Clark?”

He shook his head. “Thanks, but I think I’ll give it a miss.”

Chloe wrinkled her nose. “C’mon Kent, live dangerously.”

“Words to live by, I’m sure,” he sighed, settling back against the worn and cracked leather. 

Chloe sipped her coffee and studied him for a moment.

“It sounds to me like you’ve got a bit of a catch-22 situation. If you tell Lois what you know, she’ll get upset. If you don’t tell her she’ll be even more upset.”

Hadn't he just said that, he thought. 

“How do you know it’s about Lois?”

“Because I know you, Clarkbar. You wouldn’t be this upset if it involved Nell. She’s a lot tougher than that.” She pursed her lips. “Of course, you may not be giving Lois enough credit either. She’s a lot tougher than you think.”

“Well, being raised by an army general, I guess she’d have to be,” he said. “I still don’t know.”

“Clark, do you remember when I found out the truth about you?”

“Yes,” he said cautiously, wondering where she was going with this.

Chloe had found out the truth about him by accident about a year before he and Lana had got married. She’d witnessed him using his abilities when he’d had no other alternative, but hadn’t told him immediately. Instead she had dropped hint after hint until he’d finally realised what had happened. 

“I just about went crazy trying to keep it under wraps,” Chloe was saying. “I finally talked to Lois.”

“You ...”

“Relax. I didn’t tell her what I knew. But I asked her what she would do if she found out something about someone that could potentially hurt them. She told me that it was my decision whether I told you or not, but in the meantime I should go out of my way to be supportive.”

He nodded. He could understand that, but the two situations were completely different. On the one hand, Lois would definitely be upset with him if he didn’t tell her, but on the other, if she knew that Lex was the one behind her father’s disappearance, she could get seriously hurt if Lex decided to do anything.

It was late by the time they left the diner. Clark helped Chloe put on her coat.

“So, I hear Lex has been sniffing around,” she said.

“Uh, yeah. He wants to buy the farm.”

Chloe looked worried.

“What? Clark, that’s all you have left of your parents.”

“I know. I’m not going to sell to him, Chloe.”

“Still, I wonder what he wants with it.”

He shrugged. “I’ve no idea.”

“Are you looking into it?” she prodded.

“I was going to do a bit of digging and see what I could come up with.”

“Well, if you need any help in that arena, let me know.”

“Thanks, Chloe, but you’re busy enough with your own work. Besides, I don’t have time right now. I have an appointment tomorrow morning.”

“For what?”

“Perry gave me an article to write. It’s not much, but it’s a step.”

“Well, good luck,” she said, hugging him and kissing his cheek. “Love you.”

“Love you too. Sure you don’t want me to come with, make sure you get home okay?”

She grinned. “You know I love taking a walk on the wild side now and then.”

Clark decided to walk instead of taking the bus back into town. It was a fairly warm night for early spring and it was quite pleasant. He often took long walks as it gave him time to think. Nell and Lana had often teased him for the way his mind seemed to work faster than a normal human’s and it was nice to just slow down.

He still had no idea what to do about Lois and her father when he made it back into town shortly before midnight. He was passing the Lexor Hotel when he saw someone running on the roof. He zeroed in on the figure. He couldn’t see the face but what he did see worried him. It was a man dressed in what appeared to be a form-fitting outfit. The man was very agile, able to leap across the gap between two buildings without any problems. 

He picked up the sounds of people shouting and what seemed to be panic from the penthouse suite of the hotel. It sounded to him like someone had just been robbed. He could hear Lex trying to calm the situation, without much luck. 

Clark again looked for the man on the rooftop, wondering if he’d had anything to do with the robbery, but he was nowhere in sight. Sighing, he continued on home. As much as he wanted to pursue it, the last thing he wanted was to give himself away to someone who could very likely tell the wrong people about him and that would be all she wrote.

He’d had nightmares about it when he’d been little. They’d started to disappear after a while but when his parents had been killed, they had returned full force. Nell had told him that for months afterwards he’d wake up screaming about how ‘they’ were going to come for him. He had sometimes wondered if perhaps the crash that killed his parents had not been an accident after all, but the coroner’s report had assured him that it was indeed an accident.

Still, the fears remained and he chose to hide in the shadows, never giving himself away, if he could help it, and only going to the aid of someone if there was little to no chance of being seen.

He found himself walking past Lois’ apartment building and glanced up at the window where he had first seen her. She wasn’t there and the windows were dark. Either she was in bed or was out somewhere.

***

“Lex, aren’t you going to call the police?” Lois asked, frowning at the bald billionaire.

He shook his head. 

“There’s little point. The robber is long gone and it was merely a bauble. Nothing worth getting upset over.”

“I suppose your insurance would cover it anyway,” she said cynically.

He wrapped an arm around her waist.

“I don’t care about that,” he told her. “I care more about the fact that you could have been hurt.”

“I’m fine,” she lied. After all, she’d been the one wearing the necklace that had been taken. 

She had reluctantly agreed to accompany Lex to the charity fundraiser, knowing the only reason he was even involved was to impress her. Not to mention the huge tax breaks he would get for hosting the thing, she thought darkly. 

Lex had loaned her a necklace which she assumed was worth a great deal of money. Again, it was supposedly something he’d used to show her how much he liked her. Lois was in no doubt about that but a big part of her couldn’t help wondering if he was really just trying to butter her up so she wouldn’t investigate him. She was used to straight talking, but knew empty flattery when she heard it.

“Is everyone all right?”

Lois looked up at the tall blond, giving him a small smile. He was rubbing the back of his head and grimacing.

“We’re fine, Oliver,” Lex said coolly. “What’s wrong with your head?”

“Robber must have hit me on the way in,” he said, wincing. “I was on the balcony, just enjoying some fresh air. Next thing I know I’m waking up on the floor. I heard you got robbed. What was taken?”

Lois frowned at the man. He seemed genuinely concerned, but she couldn’t help noticing an air of hostility between him and Lex. It appeared the two men shared quite a history as well as mutual business interests.

Lex continued to assure the man that everyone was fine and no one was hurt. He seemed to shrug off Oliver’s own apparent injury.

The blond looked at her.

“Please excuse my rudeness,” he said, taking her hand and lifting it to his lips. “We haven’t been formally introduced. I’m Oliver Queen.”

“Lois Lane,” she smiled.

“I must say, Miss Lane, I’m surprised to see you at one of these stuffy old things. Such a beautiful woman must have a bevy of admirers willing to wine and dine her.”

She pulled away gently.

“Well, Lex promised he would get me an interview with a couple of people for a story I’m working on,” she said.

Oliver arched an eyebrow.

“A story? Are you a reporter?”

“She happens to be a top investigative reporter at the Daily Planet,” Lex interjected. “And she works for me.”

“I see,” the Star City billionaire said tightly.

Clearly no love lost, Lois thought. She figured it was time to make a graceful exit.

“Uh, I really should get going, Lex. Early deadlines. You know how it is.”

He smiled and kissed her cheek.

“Of course. I’ll get my driver to take you home.”

“Not necessary,” she replied. “I’ll just catch a cab.”

“You won’t find one easily at this time of night,” Oliver commented. “This neighbourhood isn’t exactly safe either.”

“I was raised by a four-star general, Mr Queen. I think I’m perfectly capable of getting home safely.”

She turned away from the two men, gathering her things together. As she moved to the exit, she overheard Oliver remarking to Lex.

“Well, she’s a breath of fresh air.”

“Hands off, Queen. Lois Lane is not someone you want to tangle with.”

“That your way of saying she’s yours, Luthor?”

“I mean it, Oliver.” 

They had to be close to the door as she continued to hear them even as she waited for the elevator.

“Heard you the first time, Lex, but let me tell you something about a girl like Lois Lane. She’s way too much woman for you to handle.”

The elevator doors closed before she could hear Lex’s response. Lois sighed. The last thing she wanted was to be the pawn in Lex and Oliver’s games of one-upmanship.

She hailed a cab, which was waiting outside the lobby for her, and sat in the back of the car, thinking about the evening. Lex had got her the promised interviews but other than that he had never left her side all night. She found it annoying to say the least, but the last thing she wanted to do was piss Lex off. She supposed she could handle his possessiveness. She could even handle the false niceness and the fake smiles.

Lex wanted something from her, but she had no idea what it was. The only thing she could do was keep playing his game until he showed his hand.

She found herself thinking about Clark Kent. At the dinner the other night, he had clearly been out of his league. She had seen the expression on his face when Lex had been talking to him. He had no idea what Lex really was, but for all that, she could tell he wasn’t fooled by Lex’s charms either.

Clark seemed like a very nice man who, on the surface, appeared to be everything a boy brought up in a small town would be. If Lois hadn’t known better, she would have said he was just a shy boy from the country. Yet, deep down, she could see a man who was still hurting from the loss of his family, even if he kept most of that pain to himself.

Lois had meant what she had said to Clark. She had no time for relationships. Yet, she found herself wanting to get to know Clark Kent better. 

***

Clark looked up at the four-level brownstone, steeling himself. Even when he’d been working with Chloe on her stories for the Smallville Torch, he had had difficulty talking to people. His parents dying had made him shy away from most people. At least being Lana’s foster brother had protected him from most of the hazing that had gone on in high school, even if he hadn’t been totally immune to it. Mostly he’d just kept to himself.

He nervously rang the buzzer to the third floor apartment.

“Yes?”

“Mrs Thompson? I’m Clark Kent. From the Daily Planet?”

“Oh! Please come up,” she said. There was a buzzing sound and he opened the door, making his way up to the apartment. 

The woman who answered his tentative knock was petite; at least a foot shorter than Clark, who was just shy of six four. His research had told him she was aged about thirty-two, but she appeared to be much older. Her face had lines which had clearly been etched in her grief for her husband.

He offered a gentle smile and she smiled back. 

“Please come in Mr Kent.”

“You can call me Clark,” he said.

She nodded. “Louisa.” She turned toward what he saw was the kitchen.

The apartment was small and shabbily furnished. It was clear she wasn’t earning much of an income, but from what he could see of the photographs on the wall, she focused more of her energy on her family. 

“Would you like a coffee, Clark?” she called from the kitchen.

“Thank you. That would be nice. Uh, cream, two sugars?”

“Sure. Make yourself comfortable. I’ll bring the coffee out.”

Clark sat on the threadbare couch, glancing once again at the photographs on the wall. One caught his attention. A blond man in what appeared to be a marines uniform, standing alongside a tall, olive-skinned man in a similar uniform. They were both grinning cheekily. Two jokers, hamming it up for the camera.

Louisa returned carrying a small tray.

“You have a beautiful family,” Clark told her.

“Thank you. That’s my husband,” she said, pointing to the photo that had caught Clark’s attention. “He was a marine.”

“How did you meet?” he asked.

“We met in high school. I was fifteen, he was seventeen and he’d just moved from California. His dad was based there. His mom decided to move them to Smallville when his father was killed serving overseas.”

“His dad was a marine?” Clark asked, ignoring the fact that she mentioned Smallville for a moment.

Louisa nodded. “Jack looked up to him. He was devastated when his dad died. As soon as he turned eighteen he joined up.” She peered curiously at him. “You’re from Smallville too, aren’t you?”

“Uh, yes.”

“I remember your parents. They kept to themselves mostly, out on that farm, but they were good people. I was sorry to hear about the accident.”

“Thank you.”

Clark decided to steer the conversation back to the interview. 

“I’m very sorry ... what happened to Jack, I mean. Can you tell me what happened?”

She took a deep breath. 

“Jack and my youngest son, Francis, were out by Crater Lake. Francis ... we call him Frankie, wanted to go swimming, but Jack told him not to. Frankie’s always been a little headstrong. He reminds me so much of my little brother at that age. Well, he went in anyway and became caught. Jack dove in to pull him out and became trapped in the mud.”

Clark stayed another couple of hours, talking with the widow. They were interrupted occasionally by the baby needing attention and the children coming in from school. Clark had the sense that young Frankie, who was barely seven when his father died, felt tremendous guilt for what had happened a year earlier.

That afternoon he pulled out his laptop and booted it up. The computer was old and slow, but he couldn’t afford to get anything else. Nell couldn’t afford to pay him much and what she did pay him was barely enough to keep a roof over his head. He supposed he could have used what little funds had been in trust for him since the land had been sold, but he’d promised Nell he’d use it for his education.

He stared at the small screen for a few moments, trying to think of a way to write the article that would pull in the reader. He’d mostly written up cafeteria menus while Chloe had tackled the harder stories, although she’d often said that a mark of a good writer was to take something dull and make it into something interesting.

He thought about the things Louisa had said. She’d spoken of her husband’s bravery. It wasn’t just that he was a marine. Bravery was something that couldn’t be taught. It was something innate. He wondered sometimes if he could ever have that courage without his powers. 

Back in high school, there had been a boy who had somehow managed to leech his powers. For a couple of days, Clark had enjoyed that sense of freedom from the huge responsibility that rested on his shoulders, until he’d realised that the other boy was totally out of control and needed to be stopped. Still powerless, Clark had gone after Eric and got them back. Even Nell, who hadn’t always been encouraging when it came to his abilities, had told him it was about the bravest thing she’d ever seen.

Lana, of course, had thought Clark had been reckless and stupid in going after Eric in the first place. She’d been terrified that Eric would tell the authorities about him and someone would come to take Clark away. The ironic thing was, Eric had told the authorities and they’d dismissed it as the ravings of someone who was mentally ill. 

Clark had taken Lana’s words to heart and was more cautious about using his abilities. He was sure Lana would have preferred it if he’d not used them at all and while he’d tried, he’d known there was no way to stop using them completely. They were a part of him. He’d known as soon as he’d learned the truth about himself that he would never be normal.

He sighed and turned back to the computer, his fingers poised on the keyboard. Just as he started typing, the phone rang.

“Clark Kent.”

“Clark, it’s Lex. I was hoping you might be free for dinner.”

Clark bit his lip. Lex was clearly not going to let things go at this rate. 

“Uh, Mr Lu ... I mean, Lex, thank you, but I’m afraid I ... I’m not free. You see, I have a story to write for Pe ... Mr White.”

“Oh, I see.”

“I appreciate the offer though.”

Part of him wanted to go to dinner, in the hope that Lex might let something slip about his true purpose, but he had a feeling that Lex was far more clever than that. It just wasn’t in the man’s nature to let something slip unless it was by design.

“Another time, then,” Lex was saying.

“Sure. I mean, yes, that would be great.”

***

Lois marched into Perry’s office.

“Chief, have I got a story for you.”

The older man glowered up at her from his desk.

“Lane, can’t you see I’m in the middle of a meeting here?”

She glowered back, then realised that Clark Kent was sitting opposite the editor-in-chief.

“Oh, Clark. Hi. Didn’t see you there. About this story, chief ...”

“Lane! Great Caesar’s Ghost, when I say I’m in the middle of a meeting, I’m in the middle of a meeting!”

“But, this is important!”

“So is this!” Perry told her, waving a sheaf of papers under her nose. “This is the fluff piece I asked you to write.”

She glanced once more at Clark, recalling that the man had volunteered to write the story instead. Maybe she was a cynic, but she didn’t think Kent would do it in the end. Not that she thought he was incapable. There was just something that told her he was holding himself back.

“Well, listen to this,” Perry said, beginning to read out loud.

_Louisa was just fifteen when she met Jack Thompson, describing their meeting as hardly inauspicious. He was the new kid at Smallville High and had already seen tragedy._

_Louisa would like to say that she felt sorry for the young man she would eventually fall in love with but she was one of the popular girls and he was considered one of the outsiders._

_Being seen with an outsider, even in a small-town high school like Smallville High, was not the way to win friends and influence people._

Lois rolled her eyes as she kept listening. Okay, she thought, so his prose is good, but it all seemed such flowery nonsense. That was why she hated doing fluff pieces. She zoned out until Perry got to the final paragraph.

_Maybe Jack never won any medals, but to Louisa, he is still her hero._

“Kid, this is the kind of gumption we need around here. Your writing’s a little rough, but I think you’ve got a lot of potential. What say you, Lane?”

She sighed and straightened up from the doorframe where she’d been leaning.

“Yeah, sure, I mean, if you like that sort of thing.”

“Good. Kid, welcome to the Daily Planet.”

Clark looked stunned.

“Mr ... Mr White?” he said, pushing his glasses up his nose.

“Now, it’s only an internship, and you’ll need to keep your grades up with your college papers, but I think with Lane here on your case, you’ll fit right in.”

Lois stared at her boss.

“Wait, what?”

“I’m making Kent here your responsibility. Show him the ropes.” He grinned and leaned back casually. “Now, what is it you wanted to tell me?”

“Oh, the story,” she said, eyes widening. “Well, Lex’s charity function was robbed last night.”

Perry frowned. “I didn’t hear anything about that.”

“Yeah, well, Lex didn’t bother calling the police. Besides, the only thing that was taken was a necklace, worth about a quarter million dollars.”

She’d almost freaked when she had heard exactly how much the necklace was worth. What had made it even worse was the necklace had been stolen in the first place, long before Lex had gotten hold of it. When she’d been researching the necklace, she had discovered that it had been taken from a museum in Prague about two years earlier.

It was not the only valuable item taken from museums only to suddenly turn up years later. She had found an article about an urn which had been reported stolen from a museum in Provence five years ago, only for it to suddenly show up on the curator’s doorstep. 

“So any idea who the robber was?” Perry asked.

“All I saw was a man in a green hood,” she told him. 

“You were there?” Clark asked, staring at her.

“Yeah. Lex invited me. Said he could get me a couple of interviews for an article I’m writing.”

“Oh.”

Lois chewed on her lower lip, wondering why Clark seemed so crestfallen.

“Well, why don’t you two see what you can find out about this hooded man?” Perry said. 

“Chief?”

“Out! Get to work!”


	6. Lunch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark starts his internship at the Daily Planet and Lois goes out to lunch with Oliver

“Nell?”

“Right here,” she called back.

Clark came out of the office, a couple of ties in his hands. He frowned at them.

“Which one looks better?” he said.

Nell studied the ties. One was black with white diagonal pinstripes and the other was a mid-blue.

“Is that the shirt you’re wearing?” she asked, indicating the white shirt patterned with grey pin-stripes.

“Uh, yeah,” he said. “Is it wrong?”

“No, honey, it looks great. Wear the blue. It brings out your eyes.”

He bit his lip.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” he said.

Nell hugged him and smiled.

“Baby, I’m more than okay with this. Like I’ve said before. You’re not cut out to be a florist. Don’t get me wrong. You’ve been a wonderful help to me the past couple of years but you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t take this opportunity.”

“I’m still not sure about this. I mean, Lex …”

“Honey, I know you’re worried about Lex, but don’t. From what I hear about Perry White, he won’t let someone like Lex influence his decisions. If he offered you this internship, then it’s because he thinks you have potential. Which I always knew.”

She took the blue tie and knotted it for him, making sure his collar was straight. 

“There. You look so handsome, Clark. I’m so proud of you, baby. I know your parents would have been so proud of you too.”

He missed them. It had been nearly fourteen years since they’d died, but he still missed them every day. 

The bell above the door rang and Clark looked up, smiling at Mrs Kinsey, who had come in looking for irises, as usual.

“Hello Clark, my dear,” she said. “Don’t you look handsome.”

“I start my new job today,” he told her.

She nodded. “I’m so happy for you” she told him. “You’ve always been so kind to me. I know you will be the best reporter at that newspaper in no time.”

Clark glanced at Nell, who grinned and shrugged. It looked like Nell had been telling practically everyone in the neighbourhood. Not that he minded too much.

The door bell rang again and he glanced toward it.

“Smallville, you coming?”

Clark heard Nell snickering, even as she helped Mrs Kinsey pick out some flowers. He’d spent an afternoon working with Lois, getting the layout of the Daily Planet and seeing how she worked. She’d very quickly begun using the nickname. 

He grabbed his sport coat and joined his new co-worker in the car she’d clearly borrowed from the newspaper pool. 

“Uh, so what exactly are we doing?” he asked.

“I have an interview with Simon Westcott.”

Clark frowned. “Who is Simon Westcott?”

“He’s a client of Safetex Security.”

His frown deepened. What did that have to do with the story she was working on about the robbery of Lex’s charity function?

“Look, all the people who have been hit have been clients of Safetex Security, which, FYI, is a subsidiary of Luthorcorp.”

“And?”

“And Mr Westcott is one of the few clients who haven’t been hit yet. I’ve already interviewed all the others who were hit and they all shut up like clams. Wouldn’t even confirm or deny they were hit, yet my source tells me not only were they robbed, they also gave sizable donations to charity shortly after.”

“So, how is interviewing Simon Westcott going to help you track down the robber?”

“Well, it’s not. Not exactly. I really just want to get a look inside his house.”

“Why?”

“Look, all the things taken in the robberies so far turned out to be valuable items stolen from various museums and private collections. From what I heard, they were sold on the black market. Last time I checked, Smallville, buying stolen property, knowing it was stolen, is still a crime.”

“Yeah, but that’s difficult to prove,” he pointed out.

“Still, it’s worth a shot. Anyway, the only thing I’m interested in is tracking down this hooded guy.”

Clark frowned at her.

“Why? What’s so newsworthy about him?”

Lois bit her lip. “I think he might be behind all these robberies.”

“Then you should stay away from it. He sounds dangerous.”

“Smallville, I’m not about to stop investigating just because something might be dangerous.”

“I don’t know, Lois,” he said dubiously. “I mean, what if this guy comes after you?”

“Look, if you’re all that worried, then maybe you should go to the office and hide in your little cubicle.”

Clark sighed and sat quietly in the car as she drove the rest of the way. It wasn’t so much that he thought she couldn’t handle herself. Lois Lane struck him as the kind of person who feared little. From what he’d seen of her articles, she didn’t shy away from tough situations. She’d covered a few stories where she could have been seriously hurt. 

He decided that if she was going to pursue this, then the best he could do would be to make sure that he kept her from getting hurt, even if it ended up making him look like an idiot. 

A maid let them in to the study at the mansion a few minutes later and left them waiting while she went to find Westcott. Clark looked around, quickly noticing Lois was doing the same thing, peering into every little nook and cranny. The difference between them, of course, was that he could use his x-ray vision. 

At first he didn’t see anything that might fit the profile, until he saw a room off the study which seemed to be heavily secured. He saw several small mechanisms installed in panels just below the ceiling which he guessed contained some kind of laser, since the beams were actually invisible to the naked eye. 

Inside the room was a statue which appeared to be Egyptian in origin, with a necklace around the neck. It was gold, with a large amulet adorned with the picture of a scarab. 

“Miss Lane?”

Pulling back on his vision, Clark turned and looked at the millionaire. Simon Westcott was in his late sixties, slightly overweight with thin white hair and wire-rimmed spectacles. 

“Mr Westcott. Thank you for seeing us. This is my partner, Clark Kent.”

“What is the purpose of your visit today, Miss Lane?”

“Well, I wanted to ask you about the congressional hearing,” she said. 

The man’s expression changed from one of polite curiosity to downright hostility. 

“I’m afraid, Miss Lane, that you have wasted your time. I have no comment on those hearings.”

“Not even on the supposed accidental spill from one of your oil tankers, Mr Westcott?”

The millionaire turned away from her as if the discussion was final. Clark stared at her, then followed reluctantly as Lois walked out.

“What was that?” he asked. “I thought you were going to talk to him about the robberies?”

“That was just a smokescreen, Smallville. He had a secret room off the study, didn’t you see that?”

He looked at her, biting his lip. If he said yes, then he was just adding fuel to the fire. If he said no, then he was going to look stupid. Lois huffed.

“Whatever.”

“So, what? This was some kind of fishing expedition?”

“I’m betting that within a week we’ll hear about some big donation he’s made to some charity.”

She drove back to the office at a speed which had Clark hanging on to his door handle. Since he was invulnerable, he knew he wouldn’t get hurt in a crash, but it was still worrying. There were moments when he wondered if she even knew how to drive with the way she kept dodging in and out of traffic like she was on a racetrack.

He knew if he said anything, she might not appreciate it, so he kept his mouth shut. 

Since he was an intern, he was assigned to the bullpen in the basement, whereas Lois had her own office. She had told him she had been promoted from the bullpen about six months earlier, and it had taken over two years of hard slog to earn it. 

Lois left him in the bullpen to start digging into the matter of the robberies while she went upstairs to talk to some of her sources. Clark found a desk to work at and became thoroughly absorbed in the task until a glance at his watch told him his shift was up and he needed to get to his first class.

He took his print-outs upstairs to her office intending to just leave them there. He saw a tall blond in her office, sitting on her chair and frowned at the visitor. The man looked up and smiled. 

“Hey,” he said. “Lois is just in the ladies’ room.”

“Oh. Well, I was only dropping this off,” he said, holding up the folder. 

He studied the other man curiously. He was certainly good-looking. From the looks of his clothes, he was fairly wealthy. Not that Clark paid much attention to fashion, but even he could tell the clothes were expensive.

The other man seemed to be sizing him up as well.

“So, um, how do you know Lois?” he asked, clearing his throat.

“Oh, we met the other night. At the charity ball.” The man stuck out his hand. “Oliver Queen.”

Clark’s eyes widened. He might not have much of a social life, or know much about the world of high finance, but he knew the name. Oliver Queen was the CEO of Queen Industries which was listed on the Fortune 500. 

“Clark Kent,” he said. “I … uh, I’m an intern,” he added, thinking just how lame that sounded. 

“Well, I just came to ask Lois out to lunch.”

Clark instantly felt a little jealous. Lois hadn’t shown any romantic interest in him, so he knew it was irrational, but she’d also said she didn’t have time for romantic entanglements. So why did it bother him so much?

“Clark?”

He whirled at her voice.

“Uh, I, uh, I was just dropping my research off,” he stammered, feeling completely embarrassed. “Um, I have to get going. I have a class in about thirty minutes.”

Lois took the folder with a smile. 

“Sure. Thanks. So, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Bright and early,” he promised, turning and walking away before he could embarrass himself any further. 

***

Lois stared after him, wondering why it bothered her that he seemed so anxious to leave. She turned back to Oliver.

“Uh, so where were you thinking of going for lunch?” she asked.

“I know this great little Moroccan place. You like Moroccan?”

She smiled at him. “Actually, I’ve never tried it, but I’ll try anything once.”

He laughed and placed a hand on her arm. Unlike Lex’s gestures, his didn’t seem so proprietary. 

Still, she had to wonder why he’d decided to drop by her office. After the exchange she’d heard between him and Lex the other night, she thought perhaps he was asking her out only because he knew Lex wouldn’t like it. As handsome as she thought he was, she didn’t like the idea of being caught in the middle.

There was one advantage though. Oliver might be able to help her find out what had happened to her father. 

The restaurant was dim inside. The interior was decorated in a mix of red and what Lois assumed was a cinnamon colour, full of warm tones. As they were led to a table in the centre of the room, she noticed the lamps in the middle of each table. Each lamp was a different shape made in a pewter frame. The shades were each decorated in what looked geometric patterns until she saw their one up close. The sides of each shade included a violet teardrop. 

“This is nice,” she said, putting her bag down on the floor and hooking the strap over her chair. Conscious of the stories of items being stolen from under customers’ noses, she made sure the bag was placed where she could feel it against her foot. 

The waitress put a carafe of water on the table and Oliver poured some into glasses for them both.

“So, tell me about yourself, Lois,” he said.

“There’s not much to tell,” she told him. “I grew up an army brat, decided to become a muckraker.”

He grinned. 

“Muckraker, huh?”

“Well, that’s what the general calls it. I love my job though. There’s a certain satisfaction in knowing I help put bad guys away.”

“Still, it’s dangerous work,” he said.

She frowned. He was the second person today to comment about the dangers in her job. It felt like she had to justify herself somehow. Her father had been over-protective to the point where he would grill her boyfriends and ask for background checks on them.

Funny though. She didn’t mind it so much coming from Clark. She might have teased him about hiding in his cubicle, but she had to admit she liked the thought of him worrying about her. With Oliver, however, it was annoying. After all, she barely knew the man.

Lex might be just as aggravating with the way he acted like he owned her, but at least he knew better than to tell her how to do her job.

“I can take care of myself,” she said.

“Oh, I’m sure you can,” he replied, sipping his water. “You wouldn’t have got this far in your career without taking a few risks.”

The waitress returned to take their orders. Oliver ordered a dish they were obviously meant to share and sat back.

“So, you and Lex,” he began.

“What about us?”

“He implied you were dating.”

“Is that what he said?”

“Not in so many words. Hence the term ‘implied’.”

“We’re just friends,” she said, sipping her water.

“I got the impression it was more than that. On his side at least.”

“I don’t have time for relationships Mr Queen.”

“Oliver, please.”

“Fine. Oliver.”

He looked her over, his brown eyes serious.

“Your intern seems rather smitten.”

She frowned at him, but couldn’t help the way her heart rate jumped slightly at the thought that Clark might return her attraction. Not that she would ever admit it, she thought. She’d been honest when she told him she wasn’t interested in a relationship. Not right now. All she could think about now was her father.

The subject came up once they’d finished eating. Lois had lived on a few army bases, but she had never been to Africa, so she found the food to be very different from what she was used to. Still, like Chloe, she liked to think she was adventurous. 

Oliver seemed very interested in her father’s disappearance. 

“So the military brass aren’t coming up with the goods?” he asked.

She shook her head. 

“They keep saying it’s classified. I mean, what’s classified about a tour of inspection?”

“If you don’t mind, I can try a few of my contacts. See what I can find out.”

She nodded. “Thank you. Lex said he’d see what he could find out, but the more the merrier.”

Oliver’s expression darkened at the mention of Lex’s name. She was curious to find out what exactly had gone on between the two men to engender such hostility, but she didn’t ask. She figured that was something she could either research or ask about later.

When she returned to the office, she looked through the notes Clark had made on his research. He had been thorough. There had been reports of the mysterious hooded figure in both Star City and Central City for the past few years but nothing to say where he had come from.

Since he’d been in Metropolis, there had been at least three robberies with a similar M.O. Each time, the robber had entered from the roof, bypassing all security systems. His equipment must be very sophisticated, she thought, since those he burgled or robbed had the latest Safetex Security had to offer. 

The company director, Milo Janis, had sent out a message to all their clients assuring them that they were investigating the thefts and they would find the hooded man. Lois had a contact who had been fired from Luthorcorp about five years ago who had told her that Safetex had offered a reward of twenty thousand dollars for information on the man. There were plenty of people who would sell out their own mother for that kind of money. 

She had a feeling Simon Westcott would be joining the victims soon enough, but she wasn’t going to wait around to find out after the fact. She wanted to know who the mystery man was and she was determined to unmask him. 

Lois had already decided what she was going to do. She was going to stakeout the Westcott mansion. Perry would object, of course, since he didn’t like her doing these things alone, but what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

She did think of calling Chloe and asking her to come along, but she remembered that Chloe was going out on a date. 

Armed with a thermos of coffee and sugary snacks to help her keep awake, plus a video camera to record any activity, Lois parked her car half a block away from the mansion and settled in for a long night.

***

Clark enjoyed his first class, even if it was an introductory class to college. When he’d first talked to the dean at Met U, he’d been told he would need to take a couple of introductory courses, as it had been a few years since he’d graduated high school. 

As he walked home, armed with study materials, he recalled the meeting with Oliver Queen that afternoon. He’d felt like such an idiot next to the billionaire. Maybe he wasn’t ready to date anyone, but still, how would Lois ever take him seriously next to someone like Oliver? He was rich and famous, whereas Clark was just a nobody from a small town. 

Still, Lois hadn’t exactly treated him like a nobody. 

He smiled to himself as he remembered when Perry had sent them off to work together.

“Let’s get one thing straight,” she’d told him. “I didn’t work my buns off to become an investigative reporter just to babysit a wet-behind-the-ears …”

“I’m twenty-three,” he told her. “I’m hardly wet-behind-the-ears.”

“Don’t interrupt, Smallville.”

“Smallville?”

She punched him in the arm. “Yeah, Smallville.”

He shrugged. He could live with it, he supposed. He had a feeling that Lois was the type of person to keep her feelings close to her chest, so to speak and giving someone a nickname was about as close as she got to showing any kind of affection. 

“How about this,” she said. “I’ll show you the ropes, share the benefit of my experience and maybe let you work with me on this story. After that, you’re on your own.”

He nodded, grinning at her. Something told him that working with Lois was never going to be boring. 

Clark made a light dinner and ate it in front of the television before changing into his ‘Guardian’ outfit. He left the apartment, intending to just walk around the city, not planning on doing any major rescues.

He found himself about a block away from the Westcott mansion a couple of hours later, not sure what had led him to this point. Hearing the scraping of what sounded like leather on concrete, he looked up and saw a man in leather on the roof of the building opposite the mansion.

As he watched, the man fired an arrow across the street, which lodged in the wall somewhere near the top floor of the building. He then used the zip line to move across and disappeared on the mansion’s roof.

Clark knew he had no choice but to try and stop the man. No matter how the amulet came into the older man’s possession, it was still wrong. He used his super-speed to get up to the mansion’s roof, then followed the hooded man, watching as the other man used an arrow with a diamond head to divert the lasers. Clearly the man had a few resources at his disposal if he could afford such sophisticated equipment.

As the man in the hood bent to take the amulet, Clark moved, blocking the entry. He had no idea if there was another exit but he figured he was fast enough to stop the man before he could get away.

“I can’t let you do that,” he said.

The man looked up in surprise. 

“Well, I’ve heard of neighbourhood watch,” he quipped, “but this is ridiculous.”

Clark frowned. The man’s voice seemed distorted. He was clearly using a modifier of some kind. He supposed that made some sense, if only to hide the thief’s identification.

“Put the amulet back,” he demanded.

The hooded man hesitated, clearly looking him over, then started to walk past him. Clark grabbed the man’s arm, taking the opportunity to study his face. Dark glasses hid his eyes but he couldn’t hide the chiselled jaw or the dimple in the chin.

The other man tried to shove him, but Clark shoved back, sending the man flying. His opponent groaned and got up, aiming an arrow at him.

Clark saw the small projectile coming and grabbed it, much to the alarm of the other man, who stared at him in shock.

“What the …”

Clark quickly examined the arrow. The head was small. It appeared to have a small electrical charge and he guessed it was just meant to stun, not injure a person. It seemed the man in the hood did have at least some conscience.

He was distracted by a man coming in behind him. The man yelled and Clark whirled. By the time he turned back, the hooded man was gone. Along with the amulet. Not wanting to get caught himself, Clark sped away. 

***

Lois dumped her bag on the table, grumbling. Of all the worse luck, she thought. She’d gone and fallen asleep in the car while on the stakeout, while apparently something had gone down, but she’d missed the whole thing. 

Still grumbling, she went to the fridge and took out a bottle of juice, opening it and downing some of the contents, before thrusting it back in. Stomping back to the table, she took the memory card out of the camera and inserted it in her laptop, uploading whatever footage she’d taken.

She fast forwarded through the couple of hours where she’d actually been awake to watch what was going on, then slowed it down to normal speed. Leaning her chin on her hand, her elbow on the table, she sighed and began going through the footage. 

Just when she was about to give up the whole thing as a bad idea, she spotted movement on the roof. Pausing and reversing, she carefully watched the screen. She realised she was watching the hooded thief zip-lining over to the roof of the mansion. Seconds later, something blurred past the camera.

“What the hell was that?” she asked herself, reversing and slowing down the action to about four times as slow. She watched, fidgeting in impatience as the thief zip-lined again, then the thing moved past the camera. It was still moving too quickly for her to see more than a blur, but she did see enough to realise it was a man in black, his form barely lit by the street lamp above.

“Holy crap!”

Were there two thieves or had she just captured the Guardian on camera?


	7. Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark is worried when he discovers Lois has a video of the Guardian. The pair go out on a non-date date.

“You wouldn’t believe what happened to me last night.”

Clark looked up and frowned as Lois dumped a bag on his desk.

“Oh?” he said.

“I went on a stake-out.”

This did not sound good. From what he’d heard, stake-outs were actually quite tedious. Nothing good ever came from a stake-out.

“Shove over, Smallville,” she said, grabbing a chair from another desk and sitting down beside him.

“Uh, why?” he replied.

“Because I am about to show you the scoop of a lifetime.”

He watched as she unzipped the bag and took out a small camera, along with a USB cable, hooking it up to his computer. 

“I uploaded this to my laptop last night, but your system won’t let me hook up the other computer,” she explained. 

Still curious, Clark watched as she grabbed the mouse and accessed the memory card on the camera, bringing up a video file. She skipped about two hours of the video and set it to play.

“What exactly are we …”

“Shh,” she said. “Just watch.”

Clark glanced at her, then watched the video on the monitor. He saw the hooded man zip-lining down to the roof of the Westcott mansion. A few seconds later, he saw himself speeding past the camera.

“I don’t see anything,” he told her, hoping it would deter her. 

He forgot just how sharp Lois Lane was.

“What are you? Blind? Maybe you need to get your prescription checked, Smallville, because I’m pretty sure that’s the Guardian.”

“The who?” he said.

“Are you kidding me? Haven’t you seen the news reports about the mysterious Guardian saving people all over the city?”

“No,” he said, wincing and hoping she hadn’t caught it. 

“And you call yourself a reporter.”

“Um, no, I call myself an intern,” he said. 

Lois huffed noisily and returned the video to the original point, replaying it at slow speed. Clark grimaced. He was still nothing more than a blur, but the shape was definitely more recognisable as him in his ‘Guardian’ clothes. 

“We need to take this to Perry,” she said, closing the video and removing the cable, packing the camera up again. 

“But … how do you know it’s this Guardian guy?” he argued.

Lois had leaned over the table to zip the bag up and he couldn’t help noticing the lovely shape of her backside in the pencil skirt she was wearing. Lois turned her head to shoot him a derisive look and frowned, glancing behind her.

“Are you checking out my ass, Kent?”

He gazed at her, fighting the urge to fidget in his chair, having been thoroughly caught in the act. 

“Nooo?”

“Is that a question or a statement?” she said, her smirk showing she was more amused than angry. She leaned forward so her lips were close to his. “But just so you know, two can play at that game,” she said softly. 

She straightened up, grabbing the camera bag. 

“Meet me in Perry’s office in ten minutes, Smallville!” she said, walking away with a sway of her hips. 

Clark swallowed hard, his eyes growing hot as he watched her going up the stairs. She paused and looked at him for a moment with what he could swear was a ‘come hither’ look. He pulled at his tie which suddenly seemed too tight around his neck, his body feeling like it was on fire. 

He got up from his desk and crossed to the water cooler, grabbing one of the disposable plastic cups and pouring himself a drink of icy cold water.

***

Lois knew he was watching as she walked away and added a little more sway to her walk. That would teach him for checking out her ass, she thought. She paused on the stairs and glanced back at him, a teasing smile playing on her lips. 

Poor boy, she thought. He looked so uncomfortable at having been caught out. She supposed she could have let him off the hook, but she had to admit she rather liked seeing him all ‘hot and bothered’. She watched as he rose from his chair and crossed to the water cooler. 

Yep, turnabout was definitely fair play, but in her case, she got way more out of it. He might be a farmboy from the sticks but oh boy, if the ass was anything to go by he was definitely hot stuff. Lois pushed back a lock of hair and coughed, resuming her walk up the stairs. 

Phew, is it hot in here or what? she thought, fanning herself. 

As she returned to her office, she saw a bouquet of red roses on her desk. For a moment, she thought Clark had sent them, but it was far too expensive for an intern’s salary. She supposed he could have got them at a discount from Nell’s shop but she just didn’t think roses were his style.

As she looked at the card, she knew she’d been right. The roses had come from a more upmarket florist which specialized in expensive arrangements. Lois had been to that florist once and she’d found the staff to be rather snobbish and very unhelpful. She much preferred the smaller shop.

_Had a great time yesterday. Would love to do it again sometime. Oliver._

She sighed. She liked Oliver, but she wasn’t interested in him romantically. Sure, he was rich and handsome but it was a pretty good bet he had just got his assistant to order the flowers online. Clark’s arrangement might not have been hugely expensive, but he’d at least put some thought into it. 

She called his office number.

“Queen Industries, how may I direct your call?”

“Uh, is Mr Queen available?”

“No, ma’am, he’s in meetings all day. Can I take a message?”

“Sure. Tell him it’s from Lois Lane. Tell him ‘thank you for the roses’.”

“Of course, Miss Lane. I’ll make sure he gets it. Was there anything else I could do for you?”

“No, that’s all. Thank you.”

She hung up and glanced at the time before hunting through the pile of papers in her briefcase, looking for the print-out she’d made the night before of a frame of the video.

Perry was not impressed.

“Great Caesar’s Ghost, Lane. I told you to go out and get the scoop on this hooded guy. What the hell is this?”

Clark looked uncomfortable, scratching the back of his head.

“It’s just what I said,” she told her boss. “It’s the Guardian.”

Perry poked a finger at the image.

“This dark splodge?”

“It’s still in the shape of a man.”

The editor-in-chief sighed. 

“Lane, how many times do I have to tell you? You need hard evidence. I print this, I’ll be a laughing stock.”

“But I …”

He threw the print-out on the desk.

“It’s utterly unprintable,” he told her. “Now you go out there and find this hooded guy! You too, Kent. Out!”

Lois glowered at Clark as they left the office.

“Thanks for the back-up in there,” she hissed angrily. 

“But, I … Lois, it’s not that I …”

“You wanna work with me, Kent, then you better back me up.”

It was his turn to glower at her. He took a deep breath.

“Sorry, Lois, but I agree with Perry. You know, just because you’re the senior partner in this, uh, relationship, it doesn’t mean I’m just going to automatically agree with you. Especially when I don’t. Agree, that is.”

“Relationship? Oh, you wish, Kent!”

She turned on her heel and flounced off. Her annoyance had cooled somewhat by the time she got to her office, although she was still fuming. She switched on her computer and got to work checking leads, muttering to herself.

“You know, you really shouldn’t grind your teeth like that.”

She looked up. Lex lounged in the doorway looking almost like the cat that got the cream. He strolled into her office. 

“I heard you had a lead on this Guardian character,” he said. 

“Word travels fast.”

“No. Perry’s just got a very loud voice,” he replied with a grin. “So, let me see this infamous photograph.”

“It’s nothing. A splodge.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” he said, holding out his hand.

Lois bit her lip. The last thing she wanted was for Lex to go digging into the Guardian. There was probably a very good reason why the man chose to help people anonymously, and she, for one, was trying to respect that. All she wanted to do was find proof that the Guardian was real. She wasn’t out to expose him. 

Lex, however, had been very outspoken about a couple of so-called vigilantes, saying they were a menace, taking jobs away from sworn police officers and creating more work for greedy lawyers who had a field day defending clients who had been apprehended without due process. 

The bald billionaire was still holding his hand out and she reluctantly gave him the photo. He frowned, turning it in his hands.

“Well, I hate to say it, but Perry’s right. There’s nothing printable here. If you still have the video file, I can get my tech experts to look it over and see if we can clean up the image.”

Lois had the sinking feeling that Lex would copy the video file from her computer somehow. She had no choice but to hand over the memory card.

Lex took it and smiled at her.

“Have you heard any more about your father?”

She shook her head. “No one’s talking.”

“I’m sure something will turn up,” he said, patting her hand. Lois fought the urge to pull it back.

“Anyway, I was wondering if you would accompany me to the opera tonight. I have a spare ticket.”

God, how could she refuse without looking like a total bitch? She hated opera, and the last thing she wanted to do was go on an actual date with Lex.

“Thanks,” she said, “but I already made plans with … Clark!” she continued, her voice rising an octave as she spotted the man in the doorway. “I was just talking about you.”

He looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face. 

“I was just telling Lex that I couldn’t go out with him tonight as we already had plans to go to the movies.” She shot him a pleading look. He seemed to immediately understand.

“Oh, yeah. The movies.”

Lex was glaring at Clark with an expression that bordered on hostility, but as soon as Clark glanced his way he put on a friendly smile. Sure, Lois thought with an inner snort. Friendly for Jaws. 

“Well, isn’t that nice,” Lex said with barely concealed sarcasm. “It seems you two are getting along famously.”

“Well, Lois is the best reporter this paper has ever had,” Clark returned, sending a smile her way. “I’m already learning a lot from her.”

If Clark wasn’t so sincere, the cynic in Lois would have thought he was just kissing ass. She sent him a smile which prompted his smile to become wider and so blinding it was like the sun had come out. God, that smile made her tingle all over.

“So, Clark, why don’t we check out the listings and see what’s playing,” Lois said, hoping Lex would get the hint and go away. 

“Then I’ll get out of your way,” the older man said. “I’m sure we can see the opera another time, Lois.”

Not if I can help it, she thought, but nodded and smiled at him. Clark brushed past Lex as he entered.

“Uh, so … movies?”

“Look, you don’t have to. I mean, I appreciate you covering for me, but you’re not obligated in any way to go out with me. It’s just, well I really hate opera and I was trying to let him down gently. Like I say, you really don’t have to if you don’t to …”

Clark snickered. “Lois, you’re babbling.”

She was, she really was. She hated babbling. She turned back to her computer and accessed the local cinema complex listings, hoping it would give her time to get rid of the blush she could feel forming. What was it about Clark Kent that made her blush so much?

***

Clark sat down beside her, listening as she rattled off some of the choices. She had a very becoming blush on her cheeks, but he chose not to embarrass her by pointing it out. 

He’d come by to apologise for speaking so rudely to her. He couldn’t admit to her that he was worried about just how much she was going to find out about him. He hoped that he knew her reasonably well enough that she would not expose him if she did find out the truth, but others weren’t so scrupulous. 

He spotted the bouquet of roses in a vase beside the computer. They looked expensive. He thought about commenting on them, but didn’t want to come off as nosy.

The phone rang and Lois picked it up.

“Lois Lane. Oliver, hi. Yes, I got them. Thank you, they’re beautiful.” 

She laughed and Clark was instantly jealous. Great, he thought. Oliver Queen buys her expensive roses. Sure leaves my tulips in the dust. He knew it sounded bitter, but really, how was he supposed to compete with that?

Lois hung up the phone and looked at him.

“Oliver,” she said, as if he hadn’t heard her side of the conversation. “Sent me roses to thank me for lunch yesterday. He wanted to ask me out again.”

“Are you going to?”

She chewed on her lower lip.

“He’s nice and everything, but, like I said, I don’t have time for relationships right now. I mean, what with my dad …”

“Have you heard anything?” he asked, still feeling guilty about what he’d overheard. He knew he should tell her the truth, but he had no idea what to say. 

She shook her head, sighing as she leaned back in her chair.

“I don’t know what to think anymore. It’s been weeks.”

“I’m sure your dad will be okay,” he said reassuringly.

“Yeah, my dad’s a tough nut to crack all right.” She smiled wanly. “Uh, anyway, so, how about I pick you up at your apartment tonight. Say, seven-thirty? That’ll give us time to get to the theatre for the eight o’clock showing.”

“Sounds good,” he said. “I should get back to work.”

He couldn’t help grinning as he left. He had a date with Lois! 

He left the office late that afternoon and sped home, putting a frozen casserole in the toaster oven to warm up. Nell had taught him to cook but she still insisted on making various dishes he could put in his freezer. She was a good cook, but he remembered his mom had won prizes at county fairs for her pies. 

He went to his bedroom to check his closet for something to wear for his movie date. He was still searching through his shirts when he heard a knock on his door.

Clark was surprised to see who his visitor was.

“Mr Queen?”

The blond smiled at him, looking cool and casual in a white t-shirt with black and white striped shirt and designer jeans.

“Can I come in?” he said.

“Uh, sure,” Clark replied, moving hastily to clean up the papers on the couch.

“So, you live here? Rather a rough neighbourhood.”

Clark cleared his throat. 

“Yeah, I, uh, well, I can take care of myself.”

“I’m sure you can,” the older man said softly. Clark looked at him, puzzled by the remark. 

Oliver picked up one of the papers on the table as he sat down. Clark had been looking him up on the ‘net, just out of curiosity, and he’d found an old newspaper article about the disappearance of Oliver’s parents.

“Interesting reading,” the blond commented.

“Well, I …” he began.

The other man raised his hands. 

“Hey, I’m not knocking it. Always interesting to know who your rivals are. You know, what makes them … tick.”

What the heck did that mean? Clark thought. Did Oliver think he was a rival for Lois’ affections or was it something else?

“Why are you here, Mr Queen?”

“Oliver, please.”

“Fine. Oliver. You didn’t answer my question.”

“I was just curious, that’s all. I’m rather surprised, actually. You see, you’re not the only one who’s been doing a little research. I did a little on you. Grew up on a farm, parents died when you were …what, ten? Married your high school sweetheart.”

“I don’t really think that’s any of your business, Oliver.”

“Like I say, it’s always good to know who you’re up against.” He sniffed the air appreciatively. “Something smells good, although I would pull that out before it burns.”

Crap! His dinner! Clark moved quickly to the kitchen and grabbed a towel, conscious of the older man watching him. He took the casserole out of the toaster oven and put it on the cracked and worn counter-top, shaking his hand as if the dish was too hot for him. 

“Well, I should leave you to eat your dinner in peace,” Oliver said. 

Clark watched him leave with a deep frown, not knowing what to make of the visit. There was nothing he could do about it until Oliver put his cards on the table, but he made a note to do some further research on the man in the morning. 

He ate his dinner, watching the news broadcast before cleaning up the kitchen. A glance at the digital clock told him he needed to get a move on and shower before Lois arrived. 

***

Lois frowned at the building. Clark lived on the sixth floor of a walk-up in what she considered to be one of the roughest neighbourhoods in Metropolis. Why would he choose to live here, she thought, glaring in disgust at the graffiti on the walls.

She walked up the stairs, glancing at her watch. It was seven twenty-five. She knocked on the door of number nineteen, pulling her coat around her, still feeling uneasy. 

The sight that greeted her knock had her legs turning to jelly. Or almost. Clark was wet from the shower, a towel slung around his waist. She gazed up and down, admiring the muscles rippling as he lifted his arm, running his hand through his wet hair.

Merry Christmas to me, she thought. 

“I said seven-thirty. I thought you’d be naked … agh, ready.”

He stared at her. Lois heaved a sigh. Either he hadn’t caught her little Freudian slip or he was polite enough not to call her on it.

“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t realise the time. I’ll be right out.”

Lois entered the apartment and watched as he disappeared through a doorway. She looked around. The apartment was tiny. Living room barely big enough to hold a couch and a little fourteen inch tv, kitchenette with a toaster oven, small cooktop and fridge with a small freezer.

She opened one of the cupboards. Not that she was being nosy, she told herself, but she was just curious. The cupboards were loaded with canned food and sugary snacks. Lois had done a couple of stories on conmen in the diet industry and while most of it was a crock, even she knew that eating nothing but canned food and snacks loaded with sugar wasn’t good. Not unless you were working out for about two or three hours a day, she thought.

Clark came back out, fastening a watch around his wrist. She had no idea how much time had passed but was sure no one could dry themselves off that fast. She shrugged it off, moving to the door, then looked up at him.

“So, let me get this straight. You eat like an eight-year-old and you look like Mr Hardbody. What’s your secret and can I have it?”

He just looked at her like she was speaking complete gibberish. Lois rolled her eyes and left the apartment. 

They’d decided to see a movie which had been a contender for the Oscars. It was a drama, but not a chick flick, which Lois had always hated. Clark was a perfect gentleman the entire time, buying her popcorn dripping with butter and soda, even though the movies had been her idea. 

They seemed to be totally in-synch when it came to their tastes. They both laughed at the same jokes and gasped at the same twists in the plot. 

Afterward, they walked together along the street, comparing notes about the movie.

“I thought it was good,” he said. “I can see why it was nominated.”

“Yeah, me too. I mean, I’m not into car chases and you know, porn thinly disguised as drama, and I’m not big on chick flicks.”

“So, what else do you like to do?”

“Monster truck rallies,” she said with a grin at his stunned expression.

“Really? Monster trucks?”

“What about you?”

“Well, football, I guess. I mean, I never got to play at school. Nell worried that I might get hurt.”

Lois bit her lip, wondering why she had the feeling that that wasn’t strictly the truth. 

“What about your wife? What did she do?”

“She used to compete in horse shows. Dressage, stuff like that.”

From his expression, she didn’t think he liked it very much.

“When she got pregnant, of course, she had to stop all that.”

They continued walking. Lois wanted to ask him why they had got married so young, but knew it just wasn’t appropriate. Clark sighed heavily.

“I sometimes wonder if things would have worked out between us if she hadn’t got pregnant. The day she died, she was leaving me.”

Lois could hear the grief in his voice but didn’t comment.

“She didn’t know if she was going to come back. We were fighting and she just … she just couldn’t take it anymore.”

“I’m so sorry,” Lois said. 

“I loved her, but there were times when I just didn’t know if I loved her enough to be married to her. Does that sound bad?”

“No,” she said. “No, it doesn’t.” A cold breeze blew and she shivered.

“Are you cold? Do you want to go?”

“No. Should we get a coffee or something?”

“Sure. There’s a café on the corner. We could get some hot chocolate.”

“Mm, that sounds good. Not sure I should be drinking coffee this time of night,” she added with a smile.

“Probably not the best idea,” he said. “I remember Chloe practically mainlining the stuff when she was working on an issue of the Torch. She did pull a lot of all-nighters.”

Lois nodded. Chloe was fairly dedicated to her work. Or maybe obsessed was a better word for it, she decided.

They sat in the café and ordered hot chocolate. The café was pretty, with modern but comfortable décor. Lois sat back in the booth and gazed at the handsome man opposite her.

“I got engaged once. It didn’t last.”

Clark looked sympathetic. 

“What happened?”

“He broke it off. Not long after he met my dad.” 

The waitress brought over their drinks and she sipped it before leaning forward.

“My dad used to vet my boyfriends by giving them a list of chores to do.”

“Like what? Scrubbing the bathroom floor with a toothbrush?” Clark laughed.

“Among other things,” she chuckled. “I used to think he was doing it to test them, but then my sister Lucy got engaged and he did the same thing to her fiancé. Lucy stood up to him and told him he couldn’t behave like that.” She laughed again. “That’s when I realised it was a test for her and me. I guess that’s why Wes left, because I never said a word to my dad. I realised later he was right to leave. I didn’t love him.”

“Your dad sounds like a handful.”

She shook her head. “Nah. He’s just, you know, over-protective. It was hard for him, losing my mom. I don’t think he’s ever dated anyone else since.” She sipped her drink and looked at him. “Have you ever thought about it? Dating again?”

She didn’t want to assume that meant her. No matter how much she told herself she wasn’t interested in a relationship, she couldn’t help but be anxious for his answer. The truth was, she liked Clark, a lot. When she thought about a future, he was the kind of man she could see herself with. 

“Someday,” he said. “Nell keeps telling me that Lana wouldn’t want me to be alone and I guess she’s right. So, yeah, when I’ve got myself established, I guess.”

Outwardly, Lois just smiled and nodded but inwardly, she was practically leaping for joy. There was hope for her yet.


	8. Shooting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For a pretend date, Clark and Lois seem to be treating it like a real one. An incident shakes Clark and Lois is growing more suspicious of Lex's motives.

They decided to walk back to where Lois had parked her car. Clark kept his hands in his pockets, although he wanted to take Lois’ hand. This might have been a pretend date to throw Lex off, but he had enjoyed himself. Lois was good company. She was witty, articulate and a genuinely nice person. 

“I had a good time tonight,” he said.

She smiled back at him. “Me too.” She stopped walking and turned to study him. There was a long silence and he wondered if she was going to say something more. Instead she resumed walking. “Uh, so, do you have classes tomorrow?”

He nodded. “In the morning. So I guess I’ll be in at the Planet late.”

“Well, no need to rush,” she said. “Your studies are important.”

“So you said you ended up going to Kansas State?” he asked.

“Yeah. I guess getting kicked out of Met U was kind of the last straw for my dad.”

“How come? I mean, you were an adult.”

“I don’t know. I mean, I was kind of a bratty teenager. See, when my mom died, my dad decided that to keep order he would execute a ‘chain of command’; he’d give an order and I’d have to follow it and give Lucy the same order.”

Clark frowned. That sounded a little harsh for two little girls trying to deal with the death of their mother. 

“At first it was kind of fun. I guess Lucy and I thought of it as a game, but then my dad would make me responsible for punishing Lucy and things just kind of spiralled. Then Lucy got sent to boarding school and I was stuck going wherever Dad was transferred. God,” she said with a sigh, squaring her shoulders. “I remember when I was about twelve, and I was going through, well, you know. I went to my dad for comfort and he just passed me on to the base clinic. I mean, sometimes all I ever wanted from Dad was a hug, or a word telling me that everything was going to be okay.”

“That must have hurt.”

“Yeah. So I kind of acted up a bit. He treated my little rebellion like it was a huge inconvenience. He didn’t make fun of me or threaten to put me in the stockade or anything but it pissed him off.” She sighed again. “I’d give anything to go back in time and tell that Lois how much of an idiot she was being.”

“I know what you mean.”

How many times had he wished he could go back in time to stop his parents from being killed? Or Lana and Laura? Maybe they wouldn’t have got back together, but Lana would be alive. 

“Anyway, when I dropped out of Met U he was so angry. I got a job as a coffee jockey for a few months. That, by the way, put me off coffee for a while.”

“Miracles do happen,” he quipped.

She punched his shoulder. 

“Cute, Smallville.” She chuckled and went on. “I managed to hold down the job until the summer and then my dad came to see me. We actually had a long talk about a lot of things and he told me he realised why I’d acted out so much. He said he was willing to get me in to Kansas State if I was willing to meet him halfway.

“So, I started the next semester at Kansas State and suddenly it was like the floodgates opened. I soaked up everything I could and worked hard, earned good grades. I even managed to get a job at the Manhattan Chronicle so I had a few stories behind me before I graduated and moved back to Metropolis.”

She looked at him.

“What was it like? With Nell?”

He shrugged. “It was kind of tough at first. I mean, it took me a long time to accept what happened to my parents. I blamed myself for it.”

She seemed sad. “Clark, how could you blame yourself? You weren’t even in the car that day. If you had, you might have been killed too.”

“Nell keeps telling me that too,” he said.

“Well, if she keeps telling you that, don’t you think you should start listening?” she asked with a coy smile.

“I guess.”

“What were they like? Your parents?”

“They were two of the kindest people you could ever meet,” he said with a sigh. “I think they would have liked you, Lois.”

They had reached her car. Lois unlocked the doors and they got in. Clark didn’t want the night to end but it was almost midnight and he had to be on campus for class at nine. 

Lois was quiet as she drove him back to his apartment and parked in the street.

“You don’t need to come up,” he said as she got out of the car and stepped up onto the kerb.

“This is a pretty rough neighbourhood,” she observed.

“Yeah, but I can look after myself. I mean, the rent’s cheap and … I know the place is kind of small, but it’s just me on my own, so …”

God, he wanted to kiss her. It was dark, with barely any light. Most of the street lamps around the neighbourhood were smashed and the city contractors couldn’t be bothered replacing them. Still, even in barely any light, he could see her face. She was beautiful. 

They stared at each other for a long moment. Clark had no idea what to do. With Lana, it had been totally different. They’d grown up together. They’d never really dated. 

Do something, his mind screamed. 

Lois stepped closer to him and it was as if some force propelled him forward. He dropped his hands to her waist as he took her lips with his own at first in a hard kiss which quickly softened. For a moment he thought Lois wasn’t going to respond but then she wrapped her arms around his neck and thrust her tongue in his mouth, uttering a soft moan. The kiss grew heated, their bodies pressed close together. 

A sudden loud bang forced them apart. Clark thought it might have been a gunshot coming from around the corner.

Lois was breathless as she stared up at him.

“Uh …”

She backed away, moving hurriedly to the driver’s side of her car, getting in and starting the engine. Clark stood frozen in the street, torn between stopping her and going to investigate what had happened.

Who knew what would have happened between them if the noise hadn’t forced them apart. All Clark could think was he’d scared her off somehow. It had been too intense, too soon, and she was probably going to run a mile in the opposite direction the next time she saw him.

But God that kiss was amazing!

***

Lois glanced in the rear-view mirror as she drove away. Clark was still standing on the sidewalk, looking more than a little confused and probably a little guilty as well. He quickly became swallowed up by the darkness.

She hit the heel of her hand on the steering wheel, hoping that might knock some sense into her.

“You idiot!” she told herself.

She’d just run away from the most amazing guy after the most incredible kiss she’d ever had. Why the hell had she done that? 

Meantime, she needed to investigate what that bang was. It sounded to her like it was a gunshot, which in this neighbourhood was a distinct possibility. She drove around the block, turning down the street. She had just managed to park the car and was heading toward the scene when a police car came screaming past her. 

For so late at night, Lois would have thought no one would be around, but a crowd had already started to gather. She frowned as she studied the scene. There was a young couple talking to a uniformed officer and a man out cold on the sidewalk. He had what appeared to be an arrow in his shoulder. 

Lois ran up to the uniformed office getting out of his car.

“Donovan,” she said.

The man turned and scowled at her. 

“Lane! Forget it. Even if I knew what had happened, I wouldn’t tell you.”

“Oh come on, Donovan. So I wrote one lousy story criticising the precinct.”

“That story almost got me suspended, Lane. No. End of story.”

“You still owe me for that poker game,” she told him slyly. “You give me the scoop and we’ll call it even.”

He scratched his moustache-covered upper lip for a moment, then sighed heavily.

“All right. Give me a minute and I’ll come back to you.”

“You better,” she replied. 

“On thin ice, Lane,” he returned before walking away to speak to one of the other uniformed officers. 

The two men exchanged a few words, both looking in her direction, before Donovan returned to her side to give her the story.

It turned out the young couple had been out on a date and the boyfriend had been dropping his nineteen-year-old girlfriend at home when the gunman had come out of nowhere, threatening the boyfriend with the gun trying to force him to hand over the keys to the car. It appeared that the hooded man had fired the arrow, which had a small electrical charge that had knocked the guy out. The gun had gone off at that point. 

“Are you sure it’s this hooded guy and not the Guardian?” Lois asked.

Donovan shrugged. “Witnesses seem to think so. Gotta admit, chief isn’t too happy now that we’ve got two of these vigilante bastards around.”

“Oh come on, it’s not that bad, is it?”

“These guys are just creating more work for us, what with the fact they’re not using due process.”

“It’s called Citizens’ Arrest, Donovan, and last I heard, that was still legal.”

He scowled. “Yeah, whatever Lane. This better make us even.”

“I said so, didn’t I?”

“Good, cause I sure as hell wasn’t going to try to explain how I lost two hundred bucks in a poker game to a lousy reporter. Even if you are the hottest reporter on two legs I ever seen.”

“Charming,” she replied.

“Go home, Lane.”

Lois drove home and quickly wrote up her notes from the night’s events before getting undressed for bed. She felt too restless to sleep and tossed and turned for a while before rolling onto her back and staring up at the ceiling.

She couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss. It had been so amazing! Not even Wes had kissed her like that. She’d felt it through practically every nerve ending, her body tingling. She touched her lips, trying to recall the memory of his lips on hers. 

Kissing him had gone against everything she’d been telling herself; that she wasn’t interested in getting into a relationship. That she wanted to focus on her career; on her father’s disappearance. What was it about Clark Kent that made her throw away every one of those rules? 

She remembered how sad he had looked when he had talked about his parents. How hard must it be, she thought, to have been orphaned twice in such a short span of time? She could understand why he was so gun-shy if everyone he’d ever loved had died. At least he still had Nell, she supposed. 

Still, being fostered by the aunt of the woman he would eventually marry must have been tough for him. No amount of love could make up for being abandoned by someone who was your true family, even if by adoption. Clark hadn’t said anything about his grandfather but Lois had discovered that Martha Kent had had one living parent. Why hadn’t William Clark taken his grandson in? 

Lois might not have lost as much as Clark had, but she at least knew what it was like to feel abandoned. 

She wished there was some way she could help Clark so he wouldn’t have to feel so alone anymore. If she had the chance, she would wrap her arms around him and hold him tight, never letting him go. 

Lois fell asleep with that thought in her mind. 

***

Clark had checked out the situation around the corner and had found the man with the arrow in his shoulder. He’d quickly looked around for the hooded archer but it seemed he’d already disappeared.

Unable to curb his curiosity, Clark had spent half the night researching. His laptop wasn’t state-of-the-art and could be ridiculously slow, but it had at least given him access to some information.

His earlier research had uncovered that the hooded man had appeared in Star City about five years earlier. Most witnesses gave accounts of the hooded man stopping attacks on the street. He was a skilled archer with an almost uncanny accuracy. 

There were two questions that had him burning with curiosity. Where had the man learned his archery and what had brought him to Metropolis? Of course, the third question was who was he really? Clark supposed he could have just x-rayed through the dark glasses, but he’d been brought up to respect another person’s privacy. To a point. 

Vigilantes had been popping up all over the world, so sightings of what Star City residents called the Emerald Archer were nothing unusual. Except most of them kept to their own cities. So, why was he here and what did he want?

Logic told Clark that someone with the kind of skills he’d read about couldn’t have been self-taught. That led him to researching the world of archery itself. He had found a few people who had dabbled in the sport that lived in Star City, but none were even close to Olympic standard. Clark sighed as he logged off shortly around four in the morning. So much for that, he thought. 

He managed to get a couple of hours sleep before he had to leave for class. He was always careful not to use his abilities when it wasn’t necessary and was forced to take public transportation, since he no longer owned a car. 

Usually when Clark took the bus it was crowded and he would stand at the back in the aisle, doing his best to stay out of the way. It wasn’t easy, since he was so tall that he practically had to bend over to fit. Today the bus was even more crowded than usual and he was forced to stand at the front, trying not to jostle the other passengers. 

A couple of them got off at the next stop and more got on, trying to squeeze in like sardines in a can. Clark was wedged in tight against a man a few inches shorter than him who appeared to be Hispanic.

“Hey man, watch where you’re putting your elbow,” he growled.

“Sorry,” Clark apologised. “It’s just really crowded in here.”

“Yeah, no shit Sherlock. Just watch it next time.”

He ignored the other man and turned to the front, looking out for his stop. Behind him, the Hispanic man began muttering angrily, shoving anyone who came near him. When a woman cried out, Clark turned around to discover the man had punched the woman.

“Hey, buddy,” he said. “There’s no need for that.”

“Get lost, jerk.”

The man turned on him and aimed a punch at Clark’s stomach. Normally Clark would be able to tamp down his strength so if someone hit him accidentally they wouldn’t break any bones. This time, he didn’t bother, letting the punch hit him.

The other man gasped in shock, trying to flex his hand. 

“What the hell?” he said. 

The bus came to a hard stop and the driver looked around. He was an older man in his late fifties with dark skin and wiry grey hair. 

“I’ve told you before about starting things, Mario. Now get the hell off my bus!”

“But he … he …” Mario was still staring at Clark in shock, his face screwed up as if he was about to cry. “He broke my hand.”

“He didn’t do anything except tell you to pipe down,” another passenger said. “You’re the one who threw the punch.”

“Out Mario,” the driver growled. “You’re banned!”

Grumbling, the man shoved his way out.

“Gonna get you for this, Benny,” he said. “I’m gonna complain to your boss and get you fired.”

“Yeah? Well I got a whole busload of people who would tell my boss you’re an ass and a troublemaker.” Benny closed the bus door, then looked at Clark. “You all right, son?”

“I’m fine, sir,” Clark said. “He didn’t hurt me. And I’d be happy to talk to your boss for you.”

“Nah, it’s okay. Mario’s full of hot air. He won’t do nothing.”

Clark’s stop came up a short time later and he left the bus, thanking the driver politely. The man gave him a wave as he drove off. 

He managed to get to class just in time.

***

Lois had had a busy but frustrating morning trying to talk to several of her contacts about the hooded man, but none of them seemed to know anything substantial and couldn’t even point her in the right direction.

She studied Clark’s notes again but despite the connection to Star City it didn’t give her enough to figure out where to go next. 

She looked up at the knock on her door and frowned. 

“Lex?”

“My tech guys had a look at that video file and they cleaned it up as best they could, but I’m afraid they weren’t able to get anything useful.”

“So they couldn’t identify the Guardian?”

Lex shook his head. Lois bit her lip, wondering if that was really the case, or if the man was lying to her. Then again, it wouldn’t really make any sense for him to do so, since it was newsworthy. Unless of course he stood to gain something from it.

“So,” he said, sitting on the desk. “How did your date with Clark go last night?”

There was no way she was going to ever confide in Lex. He wasn’t a girlfriend or even close to a best friend. She certainly wasn’t going to give him a play-by-play.

“It wasn’t a date,” she told him. “It was just two friends going out and doing something they enjoy together.”

Why did she get the feeling he was way too happy about that? He smiled.

“Well, it’s nice to see you have friends you can spend time with.”

There was an underlying current in his statement which Lois did not like at all. Lex was beginning to treat her like she was his personal property.

“Actually, I wanted to ask you a little favour. As you know, I have been investing in property in Smallville and Clark’s farm is one of the properties I’m interested in. I was hoping you might persuade him to sell it to me.”

Lois frowned at him.

“Why would I do that? It’s Clark’s family farm. Besides, what do you want it for?” 

“The property is rich in resources. Would you at least talk to him for me and tell him I’ll even double the value of the land.”

Lois chewed on her bottom lip as Lex went out. She knew Lex had been trying to convince Clark to sell what was left of his parents’ farm, but for the billionaire to offer double what the land was worth just sent up red flags. 

No sooner had Lex left when Lois had another visitor. 

“Hey Chloe, what’s up?”

“Was that Lex I saw just leaving?”

“Yeah. Why?”

Her cousin frowned. “I don’t know. I just get the feeling he’s up to something.”

Lois studied her. “How well do you know Lex?”

Chloe shrugged. “As well as anyone who lived in Smallville, I guess. He had this big old mansion outside of town, plus he ran the fertiliser plant. Why?”

“He was asking me to talk to Clark about something. He’s interested in buying the Kent farm. I just can’t think why he would be so willing to pay top-dollar for it.”

Her cousin sat on the desk, looking thoughtful.

“Well, remember there was the meteor shower that hit Smallville about twenty years ago. When I ran the Torch, I came across a few theories which suggested the meteors were responsible for a lot of things that went wrong in the town. I mean, a lot of people blamed the Luthorcorp plant but the EPA ran a number of tests and they didn’t find anything. They also said the meteors were completely harmless.”

Lois frowned. Was it possible that a good concentration of the meteor rocks had landed on the farm and Lex was trying to get his hands on them? Chloe didn’t seem so sure when Lois put that theory to her.

“I don’t know, Lois. I mean, sure, Lex has always had some kind of fascination for them. He told me once he was injured in the meteor shower and that’s how he lost his hair. It’s possible.”

“But couldn’t he just get some kind of order?”

“I think he’d have to prove the meteor rocks were a danger to the environment and I think someone would notice if there were any digging going on. Buying the land would give him enough of a cover, I’d imagine.”

Lois sighed. It was only a possible theory and a pretty flimsy one at that.

“Anyway, how’s it going with Clark?”

“It’s going fine,” she said. “I have to admit I wasn’t thrilled when Perry partnered me up with him, but Clark is pretty smart.”

“Oh, I have no doubt about that,” her cousin smiled. “But I wasn’t talking about that. I heard you two went out last night.”

She frowned. Did everyone know about that? Chloe chuckled. 

“Don’t worry, Lois. It’s not all over the building. Just editorial.”

“Thanks a lot,” she said, crinkling her nose. 

“Look, Lois, if anyone deserves to be happy, it’s you two. Just don’t break his heart, okay? He’s a good guy who’s just been through a few rough patches.”

“Why would I do that?” she asked.

“Because you’re the one who keeps saying you don’t want to get into relationships right now. Clark is a very sweet man, but he doesn’t have a lot of experience when it comes to women. I mean, he ended up marrying his first girlfriend.”

Lois wanted to tell her cousin that it was really none of her business, but she had the impression that Chloe was very protective of Clark. They had been friends a long time and it was natural, but Clark was a grown man and he could make up his own mind. Lois had no idea where it was going with Clark, but she at least was prepared to give it a chance. Whether Clark felt the same way was another thing, but if that kiss last night had been anything to go by, then he was at least on the same page.

“Hey Clark,” Chloe said suddenly and Lois looked up as the man in question came in. She frowned. He looked upset, near tears in fact.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“There was a guy on the bus this morning. He … he shot the driver.”


	9. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark learns a few things and Lois learns the truth about her father's disappearance, but the worst is yet to come

Lois immediately got up and wrapped her arms around Clark, holding him. He was shaking. She led him to the chair beside her desk.

“Chloe …”

“I’ll get you some water,” Chloe told her friend, getting off her perch and going out. 

“What happened?” Lois asked softly, sitting on the desk to look down at him.

“The bus was so full this morning and it was pretty crowded.”

She nodded. She understood. It could get very annoying when the people were basically packed in like sardines, barely able to move. She’d complained a few times about it to the bus company, especially when it meant passengers had to squeeze their way through the crowd when the bus got to their stop. Even then, they were not always able to get out before the driver closed the doors. 

Clark went on to relate how the man had become belligerent and tried to punch Clark, then had been kicked off the bus by the driver for causing trouble. Clark had thought it would be the end of it as the driver, Benny, had been so sure the other man wouldn’t have done anything about it. 

An hour later, the man had turned up at the depot with a gun. Benny had been on a break, as he’d been driving for about four hours already and went out to talk to the troublemaker. The pair had exchanged words and the man had taken out a gun and shot Benny. 

Chloe had come back in while Clark was relating the story and handed him a glass of water. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder, although Clark seemed a lot calmer once he’d told the story. 

“How’s the driver?” Chloe asked gently.

“He’s in the hospital,” Clark replied. “I’m not sure how he is. One of the other bus drivers told me. He knows I catch Benny’s route.”

Lois got up from her desk and moved around to check her contacts list. She knew a guy who worked at the bus depot. Picking up her phone, she quickly dialled his number.

“Hey, Alec, it’s Lois Lane. A friend of mine was just telling me about one of your drivers being shot.”

“Hey Lois, you know I can’t give out any information.”

“My friend’s a witness, sort of. He was on the driver’s bus this morning. This isn’t for a story, Alec. My friend is really upset.”

“Well, all I can tell you is, he’s stable, but the prognosis is pretty good. If your friend is a witness, he needs to talk to the cops.”

She nodded. “I’ll tell him. Can you let me know when Benny is able to have visitors? I’m sure my friend would like to go and see him.”

“Sure. I’ll call you.”

Lois hung up and related what Alec had told her. Clark looked relieved, although still clearly worried. 

“If you want, I can go with you to the police station,” she offered, knowing he needed the support.

Clark nodded. “Thanks. I think I’d like that.” He sighed. “I just don’t understand why people do that.”

She went to him. “Clark, I wish I had an answer for you. The thing is, sometimes people are just rotten. But we’re not all like that. There are some good people in the world, but you know, you can get kind of cynical in this job. I mean, we tend to write only bad news, we don’t really write about the good things people do because we think no one wants to read about it. It’s unfair, and it’s wrong, but even Perry would tell you, it doesn’t sell papers. But there really are good people out there, like the Guardian.”

He looked at her.

“You really believe in the Guardian, don’t you?”

She shrugged. “I have to admit that when I first started hearing stories about him, I was kind of cynical. I mean, I thought he would be just like those other types of people who were out to make a quick buck. But in the two years he’s been out in Metropolis, all he’s done is help people. Like no questions asked. He doesn’t even stick around long enough for a thank you.”

“So what are you saying?” he asked, frowning at her. She turned and looked out the window at the grey clouds coming in from the south. It was getting dark out there. A storm was blowing in.

“We need someone like him, Clark. I mean, it’s rough out there. So much pain. So much violence. Someone like the Guardian can give us hope.”

“What good is he if he can’t stop something like what happened to Benny?” Clark said, sounding bitter.

“It doesn’t matter what he can’t do,” she said. “It’s the idea of him. Someone to believe in. Whatever he can do, it’s enough.”

She turned and looked at Clark. For the first time since he’d walked in, he looked less troubled. 

***

Clark thought about the things Lois had said for the rest of the day, comforted by her words. She probably had no idea just how much those few words had affected him.

True to her word, she accompanied him to the police station and he spoke to a detective named Dan Turpin, telling him exactly what had happened on the bus that morning. Dan had noticed he was upset and had been very kind. Mario would most likely get the book thrown at him, the detective had advised. He had been on bail for a similar incident.

Lois, of course, had been incensed at the thought that the man had been let out of jail at all if he’d already been on similar charges. Clark had to grin at Lois getting on her soapbox, promising to write a scathing editorial as soon as she had the chance. 

Clark dropped by the shop to see Nell, telling her what had happened. She knew Benny as well and had promised to send flowers to the hospital as soon as he was out of intensive care. 

Chloe was waiting outside his building, sitting on the steps. She stood up when he approached.

“Are you okay?” she asked, giving him a hug. 

He nodded. “Detective Turpin told me Benny’s going to be fine. I still feel like this …”

“Don’t,” she said, almost fiercely. “Don’t say this is your fault, or you should have been there. You couldn’t know what was going to happen. Besides, if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s the judge who let him out on bail. Okay?”

She took his hand and they entered the building together, walking up the six flights of stairs to his apartment.

“You know, you really should think about getting a better place. Now that you’re at the Planet, I mean.”

“Chloe, I’m only an intern. Besides, it’s good enough for now.”

“Still, it’s a dangerous neighbourhood,” she said, wrinkling her nose at the graffiti. 

“I’m a big boy,” he told her, unlocking his door. “I can take care of myself.”

She followed him inside, watching as he took off his jacket. He went into the kitchenette and took some juice out of the refrigerator, sending her a questioning look, cocking his eyebrow. She shook her head.

“Um, I kind of wanted to talk to you. About last night.”

“Last night?” he asked, puzzled.

“You and Lois.”

“We just went to the movies, Chloe.”

“On a date.”

“It wasn’t a date. Not really. She was in a bind because Lex was asking her out and she didn’t want to go.”

Chloe thinned her lips. “Yeah, Lex kind of thinks of her as his personal property. I’d be careful.”

“I think I can handle Lex.”

“I doubt that. Even if you are a super-powered alien. Clark, I’m just telling you to be careful. I mean, you know I love you, but I don’t want to see you getting hurt.”

“What are you saying?” he asked her. “That if I go out with Lois again I will get hurt?” 

He put his glass of juice down on the rickety table and wrapped his arms around his friend.

“Chloe, I appreciate you trying to protect me, but I really wish you wouldn’t.”

“Clark, all I’m saying is … I mean, I care about you, big guy. I know how bad things got after Lana. I’d hate to see you go through that again.”

He kissed her forehead. He knew what she was trying to do, but he really needed her to back off. Lana had loved him, but in the end she was suffocating him and it was one of the many things they’d fought about. 

“Chloe, I love you, but back off, okay? I’m not planning on jumping into another relationship. Not just yet anyway.”

“But you admit there’s potential,” she said.

“I don’t even know if Lois feels the same way,” he said in protest.

“I think she does. Okay, okay, I’ll back off, but I do think you should tread carefully around Lex. Lois told me that he’s been sniffing around about the farm. She says he’s offering double what the land’s worth.”

Clark frowned at his best friend.

“Double?” That didn’t make any sense.

“Um, Clark, what happened to your ship?”

“It’s still on the farm,” he told her. “Why?”

“Is it well-hidden?”

“It’s in the storm cellar. What are you thinking?”

“Is it possible Lex could have seen it?”

“What possible reason could he have for going on the farm? For one thing, it would be trespassing.”

“Yeah, well Lex Luthor never worried about a little thing like the law.”

“Chloe, I go and check on the farm every week. I think I’d know if someone had been down to the storm cellar.”

She nodded. “I guess.” She studied him thoughtfully. “Have you ever, um, thought about trying to open it up?”

“With what? I figure I’d need some kind of key.”

When he’d first seen the ship, he’d noticed an indentation in the hull, one which was shaped like an octagon. He had tried everything he could think of to get the ship to open it up, hoping to get some kind of answer to where he came from, who his biological parents were, but the ship had not given any clues. 

“Well, I should get going,” Chloe said. “I’m glad you’re okay. I was worried about you. You were pretty upset today.”

“Yeah,” he said.

There was a sharp rapping on the door and Clark went to answer it, frowning at his visitor.

“Mr Queen?”

“I told you to call me Oliver.”

Chloe moved to leave the apartment and Clark couldn’t help but see a look passing between Oliver and Chloe. What was that all about?

“’Bye Clark.”

“’Bye Chloe.” Clark looked at Oliver, who was lounging casually in the doorway, pretending it was quite normal for a billionaire to be standing in a graffiti-decorated hallway. “Oliver?”

“Clark.”

Clark suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. This could go on all night. He moved away from the door, letting the other man enter the apartment. 

“What did you want?”

“To talk.”

“Well, that much is obvious. Talk about what?”

“Now that’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?” Oliver drawled.

“And you seem to be stalling.”

“Touche.”

“Get to the point, Mr Queen!” Clark said pointedly.

Oliver sighed. “So it’s back to that. I’m not your enemy, Clark.”

“Well, so far you haven’t exactly offered the hand of friendship either.”

“Have you ever heard the expression ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’?”

“It sounds familiar,” Clark told him.

“You know, back in World War Two, the Western Allies and the Soviets – well, you couldn’t exactly call them friends, but they both had a common enemy. Churchill and Roosevelt decided there had to be some kind of mutual co-operation but they were still wary of Stalin.”

“And this is relevant to me how?” Clark asked.

“Come on, Clark, do I need to spell it out? Lex Luthor seems to be taking quite an interest in you.”

Clark nodded, finally seeing Oliver’s point. He thought they had a common enemy in Lex, which suggested to Clark there was some kind of enmity between the two billionaires. 

“How do you know Lex?”

“We went to the same prep school together.”

Clark gathered from the other man’s expression that those years at prep school were hardly auspicious. 

“Lex says he wants to buy the farm my parents left to me.”

“Don’t sell to him,” Oliver immediately replied.

“I have no intention of selling.”

“Good.”

“Still, I don’t see what this has to do with you.”

“Don’t you?”

“No.” Clark decided if the man was going to be so evasive, then he might as well go for the jugular and see if he could get a reaction out of him. “Maybe I should ask Chloe,” he said.

Bingo! he thought as the man quickly averted his eyes, clearly trying to avoid his gaze.

“Chloe?” he said, his expression suggesting he had no idea who Clark was talking about, but it was already way too late for a denial.

“Yeah. Chloe, the girl who just left. You two know each other.”

Oliver clearly knew there was no point in trying to deny it. His was the face of a man who knew he’d been caught in a lie, even if it wasn’t much of one.

“Chloe interviewed me in Star City a couple of years ago. For a story for the Daily Planet.”

“What I saw, there’s more to you two than an interview.”

“You’re imagining it.”

“No, I’m not,” Clark said firmly. “What does she have on you?”

“Excuse me?” Oliver asked, arching an eyebrow.

“She must know something juicy about you. You don’t strike me as the kind of man who would let someone like Chloe in their inner circle if she didn’t know something good about you.”

“Touche,” Oliver said again. Clark frowned at him. What was that supposed to mean? 

***

Lois grumbled to herself as she walked along the sidewalk, a sack of groceries in her arms. She shivered as a cold blast of wind hit her. The weather had been warming up lately but earlier that afternoon it had turned cold again. She wondered if it was going to snow.

She started up the steps to her building and a can which had been sitting on the top of her other groceries picked that particular moment to fall out of the sack and roll down the steps. 

“Great,” she muttered, turning to retrieve the can, only to slip on the steps and fall, landing on her butt on the concrete with a hard smack, dropping the rest of the groceries in the process. Pain travelled from her tailbone up her spine. “Ugh!” 

“Let me help you with that,” a voice said and she looked up. Oliver Queen stood before her, the runaway can in one hand, the other hand held out to help her up.

“Thanks,” she said, taking the proffered hand and letting him pull her up. Her butt felt bruised and she winced.

“That looked like it hurt,” he commented.

“Yeah. It did.” She didn’t protest as he picked up the remainder of her groceries. 

She entered the building, quickly checking her mailbox and taking out a catalogue, before mounting the stairs to her floor. Oliver followed her and waited as she dug in her bag for her keys and unlocked the three deadbolts to her apartment.

He arched an eyebrow.

“Three deadbolts?”

“Can’t be too careful,” she told him. 

“I guess you can’t. Woman on your own. Still, it’s a nice neighbourhood. Not like Suicide Slums.”

“Your point being?”

“Your friend Clark doesn’t exactly live in the nicest part of town.”

“Well, I guess I can understand his reasons,” she said, watching as he put the groceries down on the counter and began unpacking it. “It’s not like he earns a big salary on an internship. “How do you know where Clark lives?”

“I was in the neighbourhood,” he said evasively.

“Meaning you were checking him out,” she said. “Uh, his background, I mean,” she added, flushing. “So, what brings you to my neck of the woods?”

Oliver didn’t comment. She could see him frowning at her groceries.

“Microwave meals? Don’t you cook?”

“Not really. I don’t have a lot of time.”

“You know, these aren’t exactly high in nutrients.”

“I don’t think that’s any of your concern,” she said, taking the boxes of frozen meals from him and thrusting them in the freezer.

“Why don’t I take you out to dinner?” he suggested. 

“Thanks but I have a lot of work to do.”

He shook his head and sighed. “Poor Lois, all work and no play …”

“I play,” she told him. “Look, Oliver, it’s late, I’m tired and I’m in no mood to play games. Or to fight off yet another guy who thinks I’m his own personal plaything.”

Oliver scratched his lip, looking amused.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

He looked contrite. “Uh, Lois, I’m sorry if you read more into the other day than I intended. I, actually I’m seeing someone.”

“Well, I wasn’t …” She frowned at him. “Okay, so you taking me to lunch, was that some kind of fishing expedition?”

She stared at him, trying to recall everything that had been said at lunch. He’d flattered her but other than asking her about her background, he hadn’t really given any indication that it was more than just lunch. Or maybe she had just misread things. 

So if he hadn’t taken her to lunch to get to know her, he’d taken her to get information on someone else. He already knew Lex. Still, maybe he wanted to know how much she knew about Lex’s activities. Then again, he’d asked about Clark as well. It had been subtle, but …

“Lois, take my advice. Stay the hell away from Lex Luthor. He’s bad news.”

“Why? What’s he done that’s so bad?”

“I mean it, Lois.”

“I need more than just ‘stay away’. And I’m not just going to back off on your say-so, Oliver.”

“You’re just going to have to trust me.”

She shook her head. “Not good enough. I’m a reporter, Oliver. I need facts.”

“Well, how about this for a fact? Lex is behind your father’s disappearance!”

She stared at him in shock. “What?”

“I have it on good authority from a certain source that Lex orchestrated your father’s disappearance. All so you would turn to him.”

“Why? What does he want from me?”

“Think about it, Lois,” Oliver told her.

She did think about it. It was all she could think about as she lay in bed that night, unable to sleep, going over all she knew about Lex in her head. 

The only conclusion she could come to was that Lex’s purchase of the Daily Planet had been his way of trying to get close to her. Maybe he thought if he could seduce her into a relationship with him, then it would weaken her credibility as an investigative reporter. She was sure he knew she’d been investigating him for a while. Maybe this was his way of making sure the truth never came out about him. 

That sly, sneaky, no-good, manipulating son-of-a-bitch! she thought. 

As she dressed for work that morning, she debated whether to confront Lex over the matter. She knew he would just deny any involvement, and part of her realised she would be wasting her time by doing so. As angry as she was, she knew if Lex was prepared to go that far to get what he wanted from her, then he could very likely turn on her. That was just the kind of snake-in-the-grass he was.

She sat in her office drinking strong coffee and grimacing at the taste. She usually didn’t mind it strong, but this had been extra, extra strong and she was regretting it. 

“Lois?”

She looked up. “Huh?”

Lex came into the room, smiling benevolently. She swallowed the sarcastic retort she knew could easily slip out, knowing exactly what lay behind that mask.

“You looked like you were miles away.”

“Yeah, just thinking.”

“Have you had any news?” he asked.

Lois suddenly had the horrible feeling something had gone wrong with her father. Lex looked almost anxious, his eyes darting this way and that as if he was trying to avoid her. This wasn’t an act, she thought. Lex really was genuinely worried.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. 

The bald man nodded. “It looks like you’ve been up all night worrying again,” he replied. “You have dark circles under your eyes.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, deciding it was safer to let him think it was that, rather than tell him the truth. “You know, it’s been weeks and nobody seems to know anything.”

“I’m so sorry,” Lex said sympathetically. “You know I’m doing everything in my power to see he gets home safely.”

Yeah, I’ll bet you are, she thought. 

She watched him leave her office, breathing a sigh of relief. Confronting him would change nothing, she thought. 

She continued to work lethargically, wanting to go home and try to get some sleep. It wasn’t like they didn’t owe her any sick days, she thought. 

Her phone rang and she picked it up.

“Lois Lane.”

“Miss Lane, this is Max Reynolds from the state department.”

Lois sat up, immediately awake.

“Yes?”

She listened for a few minutes, then put the phone down quietly, staring into space. Her body shook. She covered her face with her hands and began to weep quietly. 

***

Clark had spent the entire night going over the conversation with Oliver in his mind. Consequently he felt like a wreck as he made his way to the fifth floor of the Daily Planet building. 

He knocked on the door of the office, then entered, quietly closing the door behind him.

“You look like hell,” Chloe commented.

“Yeah. I didn’t sleep last night,” he admitted.

“Bad dreams?”

“Not exactly. Chloe, I’m going to ask you this straight out. What does Oliver know about me?”

She frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, what does he know? Because that’s twice he’s come to visit me at my place. I’ve gone over and over this in my head and I’m convinced he knows something about me that he’s not saying.”

“Clark, I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at.”

“I think he knows who I am, Chloe.”

It was the only conclusion Clark had been able to come up with. He’d remembered, with perfect recall, every word of their conversation. Oliver was trying to be subtle, but Clark was sure the man knew he was the Guardian.

There was more. During those sleepless hours, Clark had also come to the conclusion that Oliver was Green Arrow. He’d read everything on the man he could get his hands on and the appearance of Green Arrow a few short weeks after Oliver had returned from the dead just seemed too much of a coincidence. 

Chloe bit her lip, then nodded as he finished explaining what he’d come up with.

“Okay, Clark. You’re right. Oliver knows.”

“How long has he known?”

“Since the other night. At Westcott’s. He came here to investigate Lex and to talk to the Guardian about the possibility of joining his team.”

“Team? What team?”

“I’ll let him explain that to you.”

“How do you know about him?”

“Well, you’re right. I went to Star City to interview him and I was investigating Green Arrow at the same time. Only they weren’t calling him Green Arrow then. I did my own digging and pretty much came to the same conclusion you did. Plus I had a bit of help. I managed to get a photo of the Green Arrow and I used it to uncover his identity. Oliver used the same tech to identify the Guardian as Clark Kent.”

Clark sank down on the chair. He was an idiot. Chloe smiled sympathetically.

“Don’t feel bad, Clarkbar. You’re just up against someone who knows how to use the tech.”

He sighed. If Oliver could use the same technology to unmask him, there was no telling how easily Lex could do the same thing. Maybe being the Guardian was a bad idea.

Then he remembered the things Lois had said the day before. She was right. Metropolis needed someone they could look up to. Someone to give them hope.

He looked up as the door opened and Lois came in. Chloe immediately stood up.

“Lois? What’s wrong?”

Lois’ voice shook.

“I just had a call from the State Department. My dad … he’s been kidnapped by a terrorist group. They’re saying if we don’t release a certain prisoner from Guantanamo Bay they’re going to execute him in twenty-four hours.”


	10. Break-in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark teams up with Green Arrow and finds something interesting while Lois struggles to come to terms with what's happened to her father.

“Oliver, I need your help.”

The blond billionaire turned and stared at Clark as he strode in to the man’s apartment as if he owned the place. 

“Well, hello to you too, Clark. No small talk?”

Clark sighed in impatience. 

“Oliver, we don’t have time. Lois’ dad …”

Oliver raised a hand. “I know all about it. The question is, what exactly do you think I can do? It’s not like I can actually point somewhere on a map and tell you where to start looking. No matter how fast you are, you wouldn’t be able to search the entire territory of Afghanistan in twenty-four hours.”

Clark knew that. He’d thought about nothing else since Lois had told them the news an hour ago. 

“There has to be something you can do.”

Oliver studied him thoughtfully. Clark looked back at the man. He didn’t know if he liked the blond Queen scion, but there was no one else he could turn to.

“Have you thought about asking Lex?” Oliver asked.

Clark frowned at him. “Lex?”

“Don’t play dumb, Clark. You and I both know Lex is involved in this. Or he was, until it went haywire.”

“Lex isn’t exactly going to tell us the truth.”

Oliver cocked an eyebrow at him. “’Us’?”

“I can’t do this alone.”

“Seems to me you’ve done all right so far.”

Clark huffed. “Are you going to help me or not?”

The look the older man shot him made Clark realise he was being a bit of a douche, but all he had been able to think about was the possibility of Lois’ father being executed. She’d been so upset and had clearly been crying. All he’d wanted to do was put his arms around her and tell her that everything would be okay.

He’d held her as she cried in his arms, but he hadn’t whispered soothing words to her. He didn’t want to make a promise he wasn’t sure he could keep.

Oliver walked toward him and spoke quietly.

“This means a lot to you, doesn’t it,” he said.

Clark nodded. “I think it would destroy Lois if she lost her father.”

The other man nodded. “All right. I was planning on breaking in to Lex’s office tonight to see if I could find anything. Chloe’s going to try hacking in to Lex’s computer.”

“You’re not … taking her with you, are you?”

“Well, it would be a lot quicker than her giving me instructions over a communicator,” Oliver pointed out. “Look, I know you want to protect your friend, but Chloe and I have been working together for two years.”

“Just … working together?” Clark asked slowly. Oliver cracked a grin.

“Okay, so she’s more than just my sidekick. In that sense anyway. I was thinking about asking her to be my sidekick, uh, on a more personal level.”

“You love her?” 

Oliver smiled. Clark could see from the tender expression on the other man’s face that he did love her. That was great, Clark thought. Chloe deserved to be with someone who saw her for the amazing girl she was. There had been a moment some years ago when he’d thought about dating her, but he’d been so wrapped up in Lana that he’d let the moment pass him by. 

“So, meet me back here in a couple of hours,” Oliver told him. 

Clark would have to cover himself at work. He had to at least put in some hours at the Daily Planet.

Perry, as soon as he’d heard the news, had sent Lois home. She was exhausted and overwrought and her mind was not going to be on her job. Chloe had gone with her to make sure her cousin got some rest. 

When Clark returned to the apartment two hours later, Chloe and Oliver were waiting for him. Chloe was dressed in black jeans and a green leather jacket which Clark had seen her wearing a few times. Oliver had changed into his Green Arrow costume. 

Clark, of course, was in his Guardian costume. Oliver nodded at him in approval. 

“Good. Now, how are you planning on getting through security in the building?”

“Uh, run, I guess.”

“And the second you break through a lock door there’ll be an alarm,” Chloe pointed out. 

“Not unless I take out the security panel first,” Oliver replied. He showed Clark what looked like an arrow with a tiny arrow head. “Titanium, with a kick to it. It contains enough voltage to knock out power.”

“They’ll have back-up generators,” Chloe told him.

“Yeah, but by the time that kicks in, Clark will be upstairs in Lex’s office.”

“And where will you be, Hero?” the petite blonde asked her boyfriend.

“Same place as you, Sidekick,” he grinned. 

Chloe looked at Clark. 

“Okay, so we’ll let you know when to enter the building. Since we don’t have any way of communicating with you other than your super-hearing, you won’t be able to contact us.”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I think I know what to do.”

Clark watched as Oliver moved out to the terrace of his apartment, firing what appeared to be a harpoon arrow with a tensile steel cable attached. Chloe clung on to her boyfriend, holding tightly as he retracted his bow, turning it into a device which attached to the cable, letting him fly across the gap between the buildings. 

Clark waited a few more seconds before he ran out the door and stopped on the sidewalk beside Luthorcorp Plaza. He turned his head, letting the sounds of the city wash over him like a tidal wave for a moment before he controlled it, slowly tuning out the crying babies, the screams, the squealing of brakes and the voices which could be heard yelling. As tempted as he was to stop the crimes he heard happening, he knew this was more important. 

_Clark, can you hear me? Silly question. Okay, we’re about to shut down the building’s power grid. The back-up generator should kick in within about five seconds._

Clark watched and listened. The lights flickered then went out. He moved quickly, opening the main door to the lobby and ran up the stairs to the office. The doors were locked. Oliver and Chloe joined him about a minute later.

“Lex has a separate power supply for his office. Wonder what he has to be so paranoid about,” Chloe remarked.

I wonder, Clark thought, watching as she attached a small device, almost like a smartphone or a Blackberry, to the security reader beside the door. After a few seconds she took a plastic card with a magnetic stripe, waving it over the reader, which beeped. Oliver opened the double doors. 

While Chloe immediately made a beeline for the computer to download whatever files were on there, Clark and Oliver began searching the office for anything that might give them some clue to Lex’s activities. Oliver ran his hands over the far wall.

“What are you looking for?” Clark asked in a loud whisper.

“Lex has a vault somewhere here. I’m not exactly sure where.”

Clark signalled to him to step back and x-rayed the room. He saw another room beyond the wall Oliver had been checking. The door appeared to be controlled by an electronic device, except instead of a scanner, it had a small button.

“Sidekick,” Oliver said when Clark pointed it out to him. 

Chloe glanced over, then frowned, coming over to examine the panel.

“Yeah, that’s not going to work,” she said. “You need Lex’s thumbprint and I don’t think we can Macgyver one.”

Clark wanted to get into the vault. Except the only way he knew how was to break the wires inside the thumbprint scanner. The trouble was, when Lex saw the damage, he’d know someone had broken in.

“There’s only one way to do this,” Oliver said, setting up his bow. Clark frowned at him. 

“You can’t …”

“He’ll know it’s you if you try to break the door. At least this way he’ll think it’s Green Arrow.”

“You don’t think he knows about me, do you?”

Oliver shrugged. “He might suspect you’re the Guardian, but I very much doubt he knows everything.”

Clark remembered the video Lois had taken a few days ago. She’d told him Lex had taken the file.

“Don’t worry about that,” Oliver said as Clark mentioned it to him. “I have a couple of contacts inside Luthorcorp. They took care of it, made sure nothing useful would able to be rendered from the video. I do want to talk to you later about something though.”

Clark frowned at him, wondering what the man could possibly want to talk about, but stood back, watching as Oliver fired an arrow directly into the panel, shorting out the electronics. The vault door unlocked.

Chloe went back to work on the computer, focusing on her task, while Oliver led Clark into the vault. It reminded Clark of the vault in the Smallville Savings and Loan where Lana had kept some of their more valuable belongings. 

He quickly scanned the drawers inside the vault, his eyes widening as one of the items in a drawer caught his eye.

“See something?” Oliver asked. 

Clark shook his head, pretending to be looking at something else as he opened the drawer and dipped his hand in, taking out the object. It felt smooth and cool in his hand. He slipped it into his pocket, then resumed the search. 

The sound of the elevator bell dinging several floors below distracted him. Clark x-rayed through the wall, and down into the elevator shaft, then groaned quietly. Lois was in the elevator car, dressed in what seemed to be a cleaner’s uniform. 

He hissed to Oliver.

“We have to go. Now.”

“What? Why?”

“Because Lois is on her way up here.”

Chloe sighed and shook her head. 

“That is such a Lois thing to do,” she said. “I’ve got what I need.” She looked at her boyfriend. “Okay. Let’s go.”

“What about the vault?” Oliver asked.

“There’s nothing there,” Clark lied. He x-rayed again and saw that Lois was nearly up to the floor. “You have to go.”

“What about you?” Oliver said.

“I’ll be fine. Just go.”

Oliver and Chloe managed to get out of the room to the stairs just as the elevator doors opened and Lois walked out, looking as if she didn’t care about being caught. Clark was about to speed for the stairs, but remembered the vault door was still open. He turned back to close it, knowing there was nothing he could do about the fried locking mechanism.

Just as he managed to close the vault, Lois opened the door and shone a flashlight inside. Clark tried to squeeze himself into as small a space as possible, hoping the shadows would cover him and hoping she didn’t shine the flashlight his way. Lois didn’t seem to notice as she moved straight to the desk and began uploading files to a flash drive.

He thought about speeding out, but couldn’t help staying to watch her as she worked. She looked a little haggard and he wondered if she’d been crying. She didn’t strike him as the kind of woman who cried at the drop of a hat, but the situation had to be stressful for her. She was clearly worried about her father.

The sooner he could find the general, the better things would be, he thought. Even if she never found out what he’d done. He wasn’t in it for fame or glory. The one thing he’d learned from his parents was that he shouldn’t do something expecting a reward, but because it was the right thing to do.

As soon as Lois had left, Clark slipped out of his hiding place and sped back to Oliver’s clock tower apartment. Oliver had already changed out of his Green Arrow costume while Chloe was busy working on a laptop, decrypting the files.

“What took you so long?” Oliver asked.

“I …”

“He probably wanted to make sure Lois didn’t get caught,” Chloe said absently. 

Oliver shrugged. “Okay. So, anything?” he asked Chloe.

“Yeah, there’s a couple of emails here from Lex to some colonel. Looks like the colonel was ordered to make sure Uncle Sam was ‘detained’ for a few weeks.”

“So, what happened?” Clark asked.

“There’s this group. They’re an offshoot of Hamas.”

Clark frowned at his friend. She stared back at him. 

“Hamas is supposedly an Islamic Resistance Movement, but there are some groups which have an affiliation with them that are like Islamic Extremists. These groups spout anti-American and anti-western rhetoric. The colonel suspects one of these groups has Uncle Sam.”

“So let’s find them,” Clark told her.

“It’s not that simple. Afghanistan is a huge country. It’s like Ollie said earlier. You can’t run the entire country looking for them.”

“We have less than twenty-four hours, Chloe.”

“And you of all people should know the old saying about 'looking for a needle in a haystack’.”

“There has to be something in those files that can at least give us a general area,” Oliver told her. “Keep looking.”

Chloe looked at her boyfriend, but made no comment, turning back to the laptop and scanning the files. 

***

Lois had rested at home for about five minutes, or at least until Chloe had left, saying she had plans. As much as she loved her cousin, she didn’t need a babysitter. 

Perry had been kind of strict in his orders for her to get some rest, but she couldn’t. Not when her father was in trouble. 

If Oliver had been right about Lex’s involvement in her father’s disappearance, she figured Lex had to at least have some inkling where the general could be, and she wasn’t about to let it go without at least checking it out. 

She’d managed to get into Luthorcorp using a security key she’d ‘borrowed’ from one of her contacts and had picked up a uniform from one of the cleaning crew responsible for the janitorial duties in the building. 

The security team didn’t seem to even notice her in the hallway. From what she could tell, they’d had a problem with the power in the building, which was a lucky coincidence for her, she thought as she made her way up to the sixtieth floor. She’d been to Lex’s office a couple of times, at his invitation, of course. 

He also had an office in the Daily Planet and she had intended to check the files on his computer there, but knowing Lex, he wouldn’t keep sensitive information on the networked computers in the newspaper. He would, however, keep it on the computer in his office inside Luthorcorp, since that wasn’t hooked up to the main servers. 

Lois took a keycard out of her pocket and waved it over the scanner, which beeped quietly and let her inside the office. She moved quickly, shining a flashlight inside the dark room. Crossing the floor to the desk, she opened up the laptop and inserted a flash drive in the USB port, bypassing the password and uploading files from the hard drive. 

She waited, tapping her fingers impatiently on the screen as the files uploaded, then ejected the flash drive and shut down the computer, glancing around, frowning. Nothing seemed out of place, yet she felt as if someone had been watching her. She had that creepy kind of feeling, like the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. 

As she turned to leave, she glanced around once more and frowned again. There seemed to be something not right about one wall, but she couldn’t tell what it was in the dim light. She shrugged and walked out.

She didn’t sleep that night, trying to decipher the files on Lex’s computer. There had been one encrypted file and no matter what, she couldn’t break it. Sighing, she knew she would have to admit defeat. She had been stupid to think that Lex could possibly have left something incriminating on his computer. Lex might be a manipulative jerk and a tool, but he wasn’t stupid.

She spent the rest of the night pacing, trying to contact everyone she knew of her father’s colleagues, hoping they might have some answers for her. She tried the State Department and the operator told her to call another federal agency. That agency told her to call somewhere else until she was finally told to call the State Department again. The operator put her on hold and she left the phone on speaker, waiting for some idiot to give her some answer. Any answer.

She stared out into the night, rolling her eyes at the ridiculous hold music. Why anyone thought the _Waltz of the Flowers_ would improve her mood, especially at three o’clock in the morning, she didn’t know. 

What she did know was that she was steadily growing angrier.

“Ma’am?”

Lois picked up the handset, almost dropping it.

“Well?”

“I’m sorry, but there is no one here who can tell you what is going on. You need to call the …”

“Listen, I have tried the Department of Defense, I have tried the Department of Domestic Security, I have even tried to get through to the White House and no one seems to want to even talk to me.”

“Ma’am, don’t get huffy.”

She huffed in frustration.

“I don’t get huffy. I am a general’s daughter. I don’t even know how to get huffy. I do happy, I do sad, and I do ‘stop giving me the runaround’, bitch …”

“Ma’am, there is no need for that kind of language.”

“My father could be dead in twel … eleven hours and you’re telling me not to swear? Damn it, all I need to know is what they’re doing. Are they even out looking for him?”

“I can’t tell you that. The matter has been classified.”

She cried out in anguish. 

“This is my father we’re talking about,” she said. “I know other people are caught up in this too, but …”

He’s all the family I have, apart from Lucy, she thought. I can’t lose him too.

The woman on the line told her she sympathised, but at that point, there was nothing she could do. Lois would just have to wait. 

She kicked the wall as she hung up, wanting to scream, but knowing her neighbours would not appreciate being woken up. 

Sighing, she dialled another number. 

“This is Clark. Sorry, I can’t take your call right now, but leave me your number and I’ll call you back. ‘Bye.”

Damn it! Not even Clark was there when she needed him. Lois sank down on the couch, wanting to weep, but she had no tears left. 

She fell asleep within seconds, her exhaustion and worry catching up with her. 

The next thing she knew, Clark was beside her.

“I’m here, Lois,” he said. 

“Clark?” she said, blinking at him.

“I know. I know how hard this must be for you.” He put his arms around her and she let herself be warmed by the embrace.

“I don’t know what else to do.”

“It’ll be okay. Trust me. We’ll find him, I promise.”

“We who?” she asked, but he didn’t reply.

She woke with a start, wiping sleep out of her eyes, wondering where the ringing sound was coming from. As she slowly came to wakefulness, she turned her head, realising it was her phone ringing.

Lois got up quickly, her head swimming. She’d only been asleep for about an hour and she was lightheaded. She swayed almost drunkenly as she grabbed the phone.

“Lois Lane,” she snapped into the receiver.

“Lois, it’s Lex. Have you had any news?”

“No. I’ve tried everyone but no one seems to be able to give me any answer.”

“I’ve tried my contacts as well, but none of them appear to want to give me a straight answer. I … look, do you need some company? I don’t like the thought of you going through this alone.”

She chewed on her lip. Before, she would have thought Lex was just trying to be nice, but now that she suspected he might be involved, she could see how he was trying to manipulate the situation to get close to her.

“Thanks, Lex, but I … it’s late, or early, or whatever.”

“I know what time it is, Lois. I just don’t think you should be alone at a time like this.”

“I appreciate the thought, but I’ll be okay.”

Lex seemed to accept that but Lois wondered. She had a feeling he might come over anyway. In spite of her exhaustion, she got up, changing into leggings and a long-sleeved t-shirt with a hooded sweatshirt for warmth. She quickly laced up her running shoes and grabbed her keys, leaving the apartment. 

It was a cool spring morning and the sun was only just starting to rise as she began walking briskly along the sidewalk. She debated whether to jog, but decided a walk would be good enough. She had no destination in mind, just the thought of getting out before Lex could turn up. Okay, so I’m avoiding him, she thought, but she was in no mood to let herself be manipulated by him. 

Somehow she ended up walking along the street to Clark’s apartment building, even though it was at least a couple of miles from her own. She knew the area wasn’t exactly the safest place to be in at five in the morning but she didn’t want to go home.

She walked up the six floors and knocked on his apartment door. There was no answer after a few minutes and no way for her to tell if he was even home. Although she couldn’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be. 

Dejected, she turned away, walking down the stairs and out into the street again. She huffed, not exactly sure where she wanted to go.

“What’s a pretty lady like you doing in a neighbourhood like this so early in the morning?”

Lois looked around at the African American man sitting on the steps of the next apartment building. From what she could see, it was a run-down old tenement. The man grinned at her with yellowing teeth, brushing ineffectually at wrinkled pants. His grey hair was short and wiry, his skin wrinkled with age. He was rolling himself a cigarette.

“I came to see a friend, but he’s not home.”

“That wouldn’t be that there Clark, would it?” he asked, starting to cough. It was a hacking cough full of nasty stuff that Lois didn’t even want to think about. The man lit his cigarette.

“You shouldn’t smoke,” she said. “It’s bad for you.”

“That’s what your friend says,” he said.

“How do you know I came to see Clark?”

“Saw you the other night. Boy like that, shouldn’t be alone.”

She smiled at the old man. 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Nice boy that Clark. Looks out for people.”

“He is,” she agreed.

“Don’t mind my asking, but you look kinda down.”

She bit her lip. The man didn’t seem like he was being nosy, just concerned.

“It’s my dad,” she said. “He was over in Afghanistan on an inspection tour and he went missing. Now I find out he’s been taken hostage by a terrorist group.”

He nodded, wrinkling his forehead in a scowl. 

“Nasty business that. Was over there in, oh, ‘bout eighty something. Right smack bang in the middle of the civil war with the Soviets. Some of those Muslim fighters, they were good guys, but some sure went off the rails.”

“Yeah,” she agreed.

“Hope you get your dad out. Girls need their father.”

“Do you have children, sir?”

“Oh, you don’t need to call me sir. Name’s Jackson.”

“I’m Lois.”

“Pretty name for a pretty lady,” he smiled, taking a drag of his cigarette. “Yeah, I got girls myself. Of course, they’re all grown up and got children of their own. Good girls. You’re a good girl. You worry about your dad.”

“Yeah, I do. He’s all I have since my mom died.”

She didn’t know why she was telling the old man any of this, but he seemed only too happy to listen. She sat beside him, pouring her heart out to him, finding comfort in the fact that someone listened without judgement. 

By the time she left the old man, the sun had risen and she felt a little more cheered by the coming day. 

She returned home to her apartment to find Chloe on her doorstep, a cup of Starbucks coffee in one hand and a brown paper bag in the other.

“Where have you been?” her cousin asked. “I tried calling you an hour ago but you didn’t answer.”

“I went out for a walk,” Lois said, unlocking her door. “What’s up?”

“Nothing. I was just worried about you. You didn’t sleep again, did you?” the blonde asked, peering at her intently.

“I’m fine, Chloe,” she replied, knowing when her cousin was being evasive. Something was up, she could sense it.

Chloe followed her inside. “I bought you coffee, but it’s kind of cold. And a bearclaw with maple frosting.” She handed over the coffee and it was barely lukewarm.

“I can always nuke it,” Lois told her. 

Her cousin shrugged. “I guess. Uh, so Clark called me early this morning. He’s not feeling well, so he won’t be in at the Planet today.”

Lois frowned. “He’s sick? I was just over there and he didn’t answer the door.

A strange expression crossed Chloe’s face, but she shrugged again.

“Well, maybe he didn’t hear you. Clark’s kind of a deep sleeper.”

“In that neighbourhood?” Lois asked, frowning at her. She hadn’t been there that long but long enough for her to hear at least three police sirens, one ambulance and a few domestics. No one could sleep in that noise. “Besides, I knocked for ten minutes.”

“Oh wait, he did say he was going to go to the clinic. Maybe he’d just left or something.”

Lois turned away from her cousin. Sure Clark had gone to some clinic, she thought. Chloe was clearly covering for him, but for what reason she couldn’t fathom. Clark didn’t strike her as the type to just skip out on work for no good reason. 

It was a mystery, she thought, but one she didn’t have time to solve right now. She had bigger concerns.

“So, have you heard anything about your dad?” Chloe asked.

She shook her head. “I called everyone I know, even called the State Department, the Defense Department … no one can tell me anything.”

“I’m sorry,” her cousin said sympathetically. “I wish there were more we could do.”

Lois frowned. “’We’?”

“A friend of mine is trying all his contacts to see what he can find out.”

“Yeah, so is Lex, apparently.”

“Lo, you can’t …”

“I know I can’t trust him, Chlo. Oliver told me there’s a good chance Lex actually set this whole thing up. At least until yesterday anyway.”

Chloe frowned, looking puzzled.

“What do you mean?”

“He came into my office and I could tell something was off. It’s like he knew about Dad before the State Department did. Anyway, I’m not going to fall for his act.”

“Well, good.” Chloe seemed a little surprised at that, but Lois didn’t make a comment.


	11. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark rescues the General and Lois is starting to connect the dots

They'd argued over how they were going to get to Afghanistan. Oliver had told him he had a private jet at his disposal, but even the jet wasn't going to get them there in time. Not if Clark had to search desert territory. Chloe had managed to break the encryption and get enough information from Lex's files to suggest the general had been taken to a disused base somewhere in the eastern part of the country by Lex’s people, but there was no knowing if the group of terrorists still had him there. 

She did manage to discover that it had happened some time in the night, less than twenty-four hours before they'd announced he was a hostage and given the rough terrain, they couldn't have got far. 

Clark glanced at the clock on the bookcase. The sun was just starting to come up, which meant they had less than twelve hours to rescue the general.

"How exactly do you plan on getting to Afghanistan without the private jet?" Oliver asked. "I mean, you'd have to swim the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Are you that fast?"

"I'm fast enough," he said. "Faster than your jet anyway."

The truth was, Clark had been experimenting with flying and hoped he could use what he had learned to get across the Atlantic even faster than using super speed. Still, he wasn't exactly ready to announce this ability yet. 

Oliver seemed to accept Clark's assertion, which had him wondering just how long the other man had been investigating him. The blond wandered over to the double doors behind the huge clock face and opened a drawer in the cabinet, taking out a small phone with what appeared to be a bluetooth connection so he could use it hands-free. 

"This is so you can keep in contact," he said. "The earpiece, well, obviously goes in your ear and the microphone can be fitted onto your jacket.”

"So I call you when I have the location?”

"Me, or someone closer. I already have someone who can be there in a flash."

Clark frowned at him. "A flash?"

"We call him Impulse, and it's not because he can run fast," Oliver grinned. 

Clark raised an eyebrow at him. "Funny."

"Look, I know you're concerned about what we do know, but don't be. I'll let you meet all the guys in good time. Right now we have more important things to worry about."

He nodded. "The general."

"All you need to do is find him, take care of the bad guys and we call in the good guys."

Sure, it sounded easy enough in principle, but Clark very much doubted it was going to be that easy. He fit the communicator in his ear and chewed his lip. 

"Wish me luck," he said. 

"Be careful," Oliver warned. "Try not to get seen if you can help it."

"I don't plan on it," he said.

Clark left the clocktower, running through the state and making it to the east coast of the country where he paused, checking to make sure no one was around to see him. He dipped into his pocket, touching the smooth surface of the metal disk. At least, it was smooth on one side. He could feel small designs etched on the other side. He had seen the designs when he'd spotted the disk in the vault but hadn't had time to get a good look at them.

It would have to wait, he told himself. As much as he wanted to find out more about his past, there was a man who was about to be executed, and a woman in Metropolis who was coming to mean a great deal to him. If he couldn't prevent a gross misjustice, he would be letting Lois down. 

He took a deep breath, then bent, gathering all the energy he could feel in the air around him. It was such an inane thing to think at that very moment, but he was reminded of a movie he had seen when he and Lana had been kids.

"Use the Force, Luke," Clark whispered. 

It was almost as if he could see the energy field the movie had described. He didn't really know where his powers came from, but he had managed to put a few clues together to understand that he could draw energy from the sun. Rather like the solar panels he had once been tempted to buy for the farm. He used that power now, feeling the sun energising him. 

He launched himself into the air, feeling the wind whipping around him. It wasn't easy. It took all his concentration to keep himself in the air, but he focused on the one thing that was his chief motivation for doing this. Lois. 

He flew high above the ocean, looking down into the water. At this height, the water looked still and calm, but Clark knew from experience it was far from it. He remembered one year Nell had taken him and Lana away for summer vacation. They had stayed a week in San Francisco as she had wanted to go to a floral exhibition. He and Lana had spent hours at the beach, swimming in the ocean. 

He'd just been learning how to hold his breath for long periods and he'd swum right out, going down into the depths, entranced by the sea life. He'd even encountered a shark which had ignored him and gone about its business.

It took a few false starts but within a few minutes, Clark had left the ocean behind and the lush green of Europe's rural areas was giving way to the harsh desert. 

Chloe had told him to look for a lake about sixty kilometres from Ghazni province. Clark wasn't the best at geography but at least by flying above he could see the shape of the lake she'd shown him. It had looked rather like a doll Lana had had when she was little, except the image had no limbs.

He managed to locate the lake and the old base. Clark flew down, landing awkwardly near the site. There were signs that people had been staying on the site, but they weren't there now. He narrowed his vision to focus on some small objects on the ground. Bullets, he thought. Clearly something violent had occurred here. 

He continued to look around, hoping to find some clue as to where they might have taken the general. There were tyre tracks on the ground from what Clark assumed were articulated trucks. The vehicles had clearly been heavier than a normal sized jeep as the tracks had made fairly deep imprints. It had thankfully not rained in the past thirty-six hours. 

A beeping alerted him to the phone and he switched it on, activating the hands-free.

"Hey boy scout, where are you?"

"Who is this?"

"Impulse. Don't worry, amigo, boss man told me all about you."

"Where are you?" Clark asked.

"Kabul, but I can be where you are quicker than you can blink."

"I don't know, I can blink pretty fast."

"Yeah, so I heard."

Clark told him where he was. He wasn't at all surprised when a young man a few inches shorter than him with dark blond hair turned up, a huge grin on his face.

"Wow, they grow them big in Kansas."

"Yeah," he replied. "I'm Clark."

"Bart. This week, anyhow. So, whatcha got?"

"Tyre tracks," he said, pointing them out.

Bart shrugged. "Yeah? So?"

Clark snickered. Nell was addicted to crime shows. A particular favourite was about a team of forensic investigators. While most of the procedures they used were exaggerated for television, some of it was based on real-life. Clark had learned enough to know the tyre tracks were a valuable clue.

"You gonna follow them?" Bart asked as Clark explained.

"That's the general idea, yeah."

"Cool. Lead the way."

They began following the tracks, moving at a speed faster than a normal human pace, but slower than Clark’s normal super speed. Bart kept up a stream of chatter, telling Clark how he came to have his abilities and various things. Bart had spent about two years on the streets but then got himself into a tight spot. Oliver had found him and helped him.

“Now I work for him. Ollie’s a cool guy, really. I mean, he cares, you know?”

Clark nodded. “Sure.”

The desert gave way to rocky terrain and the tracks disappeared. Clark sighed. Bart looked at him.

“What now?” he asked. 

He was about to tell the younger man to start looking around when he heard the sound of men talking in what he guessed was Arabic.

“Clark?”

He quickly shushed Bart. “I heard something.”

He closed his eyes, listening to the various sounds being carried by the light breeze. There were low cries of animals and he could hear them scurrying about. Eventually he managed to filter out those sounds and narrow in on the voices of the men. He couldn’t understand what they were saying but it didn’t matter. 

From what he could estimate, they were about half a mile away, hidden by the rocky hillside currently blocking his view.

“What is it?” Bart whispered.

“I think there’s a camp, about half a mile from here.”

They quickly decided to split up. Bart would circle and see if he could see the general while Clark opted to check it out from above. Bart seemed startled by the fact that Clark could fly, but didn’t comment on it.

Clark grimaced. He wouldn’t exactly call it flying since he hadn’t exactly mastered it completely, but he figured the more practice he had the better. 

He flew above, looking down periodically just to make sure he was on the right track. It was difficult to concentrate on both the flying and looking down and he wasn’t sure how he managed it, but he was soon flying over the location. Sure enough, there were articulated trucks on the ground. They had been modified for the terrain from the look of them.

He was about to attempt a landing near the camp when he saw two men dragging out an older man. Clark did his best to hover, watching. He narrowed his eyes. The man in the middle was stocky, balding, but stood proudly as the other two, in what appeared to be some kind of desert gear, jabbered at him. The prisoner had a large bruise on his jaw. 

“General Lane,” Clark said quietly.

The two men talking to the general suddenly turned their heads, speaking rapidly. From what Clark could hear of their conversation, something had alarmed them. One of the men pulled out a handgun and ran off leaving the other to hold on to the general. 

As Clark watched, the man who had run off returned with two others. A third was being dragged between them. Bart.

“Damn it,” Clark said. This was supposed to have been a covert mission and now Bart had gone and got himself caught. He flew down and took cover in the hilltop above where he could see what was going on. 

The men seemed very agitated. At this rate, Bart was going to get himself shot since he probably couldn’t understand a word the men were screaming at him. It wouldn’t be too hard to guess that they wanted to know where he came from and who sent him. 

There was nothing for it. Clark would have to work fast. He had no idea how many men were being held hostage, or how many men were at the camp.

He pulled out the phone and scrolled through the contacts list for Oliver, then connected the call.

“Clark?” Oliver had clearly programmed his phone with the number. “What’s going on?”

“Bart’s been caught.”

“Shit! Okay, where are you?”

Clark thought quickly. They’d followed the tracks for about twenty miles north of the lake. He gave Oliver the approximate location.

“I can track you with the GPS on the phone. Or rather, Chloe can. She can boost the signal.”

He explained there was a NATO camp not far from Kabul called Camp Eggers. It housed the peacekeeping forces from around the world.

“It’ll take too long for them to get here. Bart and the general could be dead by then.”

Oliver sighed. “All right, you’re right. Do what you can but …”

“I know, I know. Try not to get caught. You’re as bad as Chloe.”

“Just looking out for you, Boy Scout.”

Clark frowned but Oliver rang off before he could ask the reason for the codename. He returned to watching the action. Bart was clearly not very strong as he was unable to wrench himself free from the grips of the two men holding him. A third man was trying to interrogate him. Frustrated at not getting any answers, he looked as if he was about to beat Bart into submission.

Clark couldn’t let that happen. The kid was brash but he seemed like a good guy. 

Steeling himself, Clark ran at super speed down toward the camp, creating a whirlwind in his wake. The armed men turned their heads, open-mouthed in shock. A fifth man holding what seemed to be an Uzi emerged from a makeshift shelter and began firing in Clark’s direction. Clark ran toward him, grabbing the gun and crushing it in one hand.

The others seemed to be recovering from their shock. Three fired on them using their handguns while the fourth grabbed the general. The two holding Bart let him go and he ducked for cover, clearly realising the general should not be able to see him using his speed. 

Ignoring the men with the handguns, Clark squinted, calling on an image that would help him activate his heat vision.

When he’d first got the heat vision, it had taken him a little while to realise this power was hormonally based rather than a physical one like his super speed and his strength. It had been a source of much laughter on Lana’s part when she’d learned exactly what had triggered it and Clark had had rather an embarrassing conversation with Nell. 

She’d remarked that it took the pains of puberty to a whole new level. 

It used to be thoughts of Lana that provided the trigger. Now Clark could picture Lois. He wondered how mad she would be if, when or if he told the truth about himself, he revealed that he pictured her in skimpy clothing. Yeah, she would have him for breakfast, lunch and dinner, he thought with a grin. 

At least it worked, he decided, sending a beam of heat to the gunman’s hand, forcing him to drop it. Still moving at super speed, Clark crashed into the other man, sending him flying. The general was looking around, trying to figure out what was going on and unable to see anything but a blur. 

The remaining men dropped their guns, completely nonplussed. They were shouting in Arabic, dropping to their knees. General Lane watched them for a moment, then moved quickly toward the shelter, emerging a couple of minutes later with three of his men. They each picked up guns and pointed them at the men. 

Clark moved back up the hillside and behind shelter. He’d considered taking Bart with him, but there was no need. The other man joined him. 

“Nice going,” Bart said. “What do we do now?”

“Wait. Oliver’s going to contact the men at Camp Eggers.”

“We should go.”

Clark shook his head. “We can’t take any chances that there might be others. The general’s still vulnerable.”

Bart nodded in understanding. They both hunkered down to wait.

***

Chloe had ordered her cousin to rest, but Lois still hadn’t been able to sleep for worrying. Even after Chloe had left, presumably to run some errands, Lois had sat watching the clock.

The deadline passed with no news. She turned the television on but not even LNN news had anything to tell her. She sat dry-eyed just staring at the screen.

Her phone rang, startling her.

“Lois Lane,” she said, picking it up.

“Is there any news?” Lucy asked, sounding as if she had had a sleepless night as well. Her voice was husky from lack of sleep.

“Nothing yet,” she replied.

“There should have been something by now. The twenty-four hours were up an hour ago.”

“I know.”

She looked up at a knock on the door and went to check through the peephole. Chloe. With Oliver.

Frowning, Lois unlocked all the deadbolts and opened the door, letting them in, before turning back to the phone.

“Luce? Chloe’s here, with Oliver Queen.”

“Oh. Well, call me if you hear anything, okay?”

“I will. Love you, Luce.”

“I love you too, Lo. He’s okay. He has to be.”

Lois nodded and hung up, looking at her cousin. She frowned at the way the blond billionaire seemed to be standing so close to Chloe.

“Are you two …?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “Sorry I didn’t tell you. We’ve sort of been seeing each other for a while.”

“Oh.”

She felt kind of numb. She wanted to be happy for her cousin, knowing Chloe deserved some happiness. She just couldn’t find the energy to feel anything.

“Any news?” Oliver asked quietly.

She shook her head. “You’d think we would have heard something by now,” she said.

“Have you slept at all?” Chloe asked, sounding concerned.

“I couldn’t,” she said, shaking her head again. “I just … I keep wishing there was something I could do.”

“Lois, they are doing their best to find him. You know that.”

“It’s already past the deadline, Chlo. For all I know he could be dead but they won’t release the information.”

Chloe sat down on the couch and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. 

“You have to hang in there, Lo. I’m sure they’re doing everything they can to secure his release.”

With a sigh, Lois leaned against her cousin, grateful for her support. Maybe it didn’t help her father’s situation, but she at least didn’t feel so alone. 

She did wonder why Clark hadn’t come. Even if he was sick. Not that she actually bought that excuse of Chloe’s. She didn’t think Clark could be that deep a sleeper that he didn’t hear her knocking, or that he might have slipped out to go to a clinic for medicine. 

Why did it bother her so much that Clark hadn’t come to support her? Did he even care about her or was she imagining what had happened between them the other night? 

Not even Lex, who she was sure had been manipulating her somehow, had shown up. Still, she supposed Lex could have an excuse, trying every one of his contacts to try and fix the situation. 

Oliver offered to make some coffee and went into the kitchen. Lois yawned, the sleepless night catching up with her. By the time Oliver returned with hot coffee, she was asleep with her cousin’s arms wrapped around her.

She had no idea what time it was when a phone rang. Sleepily, she reached out for it, then realised it wasn’t her phone. It was Oliver’s. He answered it and began talking quietly.

“That’s great,” he was saying. “She’s sleeping. Yeah, I don’t think she slept all night. I guess it finally caught up with her.” There was a pause as he listened. “Okay. We’ll talk when you get back.”

Lois frowned, wondering who Oliver was talking to. She lay still, realising Chloe had thrown a blanket over her and left her to sleep. Her cousin was now talking quietly to her boyfriend.

“So it was a success?”

“They picked him up about an hour ago. I’m guessing the brass will want a debrief, but yeah, they got him. They also managed to capture five of the terrorist group.”

“That’s great. Lois is going to be so happy when she hears.”

“Yeah.” She sensed Oliver was looking at her. “Poor kid,” he said with sympathy in his tone. “I can’t imagine the hell she’s been going through.”

“It’s all Lex’s fault,” Chloe said darkly. “Wonder why he set this whole thing up.”

“Dunno, but from what I remember about Lex, his schemes have a bad habit of going kerplooey. I’d watch your back, and hers.”

“What about Clark?”

“I’d say Clark can take care of himself.”

“Yeah, but Lex has his eye on Clark’s farm.”

“I know. There’s not much we can do about that. It’s Clark’s life and we can’t tell him what to do. I’ve got a feeling he has the measure of Lex anyway.”

A phone rang. This time it was Lois’ and she sat up, reaching for it.

“Lois Lane?”

“Lois?”

She almost dropped the phone in shock at the deep voice on the other end.

“Daddy?”

“I’m okay, sweetheart. I’m okay.”

“Daddy!”

She couldn’t get the words out, too choked up with emotion. Her father was alive.

“Listen, sweetheart, I won’t be able to get back to the States for another week, but I promise I’ll be there. The crap has hit the fan here and they need me to debrief them. Tell them exactly what happened. Frankly, I don’t quite believe it all myself.”

“I don’t follow.”

“That story you’ve been following in Metropolis, Lois. That man you call the Guardian. I’m sure he was the one who found me, Lo.”

Lois blinked. How could the Guardian have been in Afghanistan? 

“I love you, Lo. I’ll see you in a week, I promise.”

“I love you too Daddy.”

Her eyes shone with tears as she hung up the phone and stared at her cousin and the tall blond.

“He’s alive!” she said. “He’s alive!”


	12. Confrontations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois confronts Clark and Clark returns to the farm

Clark made it home just as the sun was beginning to drop below the horizon. It was still cold, but he wasn’t surprised to see the old man from the neighbouring tenement sitting out on the steps, smoking a hand-rolled cigarette. Jackson coughed, a hacking cough that made Clark wince. 

“You know, you really shouldn’t smoke,” he said, x-raying the man’s lungs. There were signs of damage but no ominous shadows.

“Ahh, what else is an old man gonna do?” Jackson replied, giving him a gap-toothed grin. “Been gone a while.”

Clark frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

“Friend of yours came by early this morning. She looked kind of upset. Pretty girl too. You seeing her?”

Clark felt the need for denial. “No, we’re just … we work together, but we’re just friends.”

Jackson cocked an eyebrow at him. “Don’t mind my sayin’ so but someone who’s ‘just a friend’ wouldn’t come lookin’ for you if they were upset. They’d be on the phone or something.”

He pretended not to understand what the old man was saying, but clearly Lois had come by when he’d been at Oliver’s trying to figure out where the general was being kept. She was no dummy. It wouldn’t take long for her to put two and two together. 

“You know, when I met my Katie, we always told ourselves we would be just friends, but no matter how much we told ourselves, we knew we were more. Forty years we were together. Three girls.” He sighed, clearly missing his wife. “Girl like that, could never be just a friend. She’s special. Like my Katie.”

Clark smiled at the older man. It seemed such a shame that Jackson didn’t see his daughters that often. It didn’t surprise him, either, how much the old man saw. He was like so many people who lived in Suicide Slum. Often overlooked by those in authority but they saw so much. 

His heart warmed as he thought of Lois. Jackson was right. Lois was indeed a very special woman. Just as he knew that Lois could never be just ‘a friend’. For the first time since Lana, Clark felt there was something worth holding on to. Something that made everything he did worthwhile.

Of course there was the added complication. He couldn’t tell Lois his secret. Not yet, anyway. She’d want to know where he was from and he had no answer for that. 

He said goodbye to Jackson and went upstairs to find his phone ringing. 

“Clark Kent.”

“Good, you’re home.”

“Chloe,” he said, taking off his shoes. “What’s up?”

“I thought you’d like to know that Lois was over there early this morning.”

“I know,” he said. “I ran into a neighbour. He told me. What did you tell her?”

“Well, she was kind of upset that you weren’t there. I think she really wanted to see you. Anyway, I said that you called in sick and you’d gone to the clinic.”

Like Lois would believe that, Clark thought.

“Why didn’t you just tell her I’d gone to Nell’s?” It seemed like the most logical thing he would do after all. Didn’t most people seek out the comfort of their family when they were sick?

She sounded like she’d just smacked her forehead.

“Agh, why didn’t I think of that?”

“Because you’re not used to making excuses for me,” he said. “I’ll give Nell a call and ask her to cover for me. I don’t think Lois will ask her but it’s better safe than sorry.”

“Okay. Listen, Ollie wants to talk to you.”

“Can it wait until tomorrow? I’m really beat.”

“Yeah,” she said, sounding happy. “Hey Clark?”

“Yeah Chloe.”

“You did a great job. You should have seen Lois’ face when she got the call from her dad. She was so happy.”

Clark smiled, getting that warm, fuzzy feeling again. He could picture the smile on Lois’ face, see the joy in her eyes. 

“She’s okay?”

“More than okay,” his friend said. “We left her sleeping soundly. It was probably the first restful sleep she’d had in weeks.” She sighed softly and he could hear her talking to someone in the background. Ollie, he thought. “Listen, I have to go. Ollie just brought dinner. Thanks for everything, Clark. You’re amazing!”

He hung up, immediately dialling Nell’s number.

“Hi, it’s Clark.”

“Is everything okay, sweetie?”

“It’s fine, it’s just … well, remember how I told you about Lois’ dad?”

“That he had disappeared in Afghanistan?”

“Yeah. Anyway, some friends of mine helped me and I went over there to track him down.”

“Are you okay? He didn’t see you, did he?”

“No. At least, I don’t think so. He might have seen another guy who was with me, but I think I was moving too fast. Um, anyway, Lois came over early this morning, while I was out working with this friend, and she was apparently upset when she found out I wasn’t here, so Chloe told her I called in sick to work and that I’d gone to the clinic.”

“You want me to cover for you, honey?”

“You don’t mind, do you?”

“You know I don’t, but sweetie, if you want my advice, I think you need to be honest with her.”

“I don’t want her getting hurt because of me.”

There was a knock on his door and he quickly x-rayed through the wood, frowning when he realised Lois was standing there, with what looked like bags of takeout. 

“Uh, Nell, I have to go. Lois is at the door.”

“All right, sweetheart, but we will talk about this,” she added firmly. Clark knew when Nell spoke in that tone she meant business. 

Clark hung up and went to the door, opening it abruptly.

“You know you really should get a chain on the door. You never know who might be on the other side,” Lois told him breezily as she walked past him. 

“I’ll take my chances,” he said, turning to follow her, letting the door close gently.

“Where are your plates?” she asked, going to the cupboard and pulling out the chipped dinnerware. “You like Thai? I’m betting if you’ve been sick all day you haven’t eaten anything.”

“I went to Nell’s,” he said.

“What did the doc at the clinic say?” she asked, looking up at him. Clark got the feeling she was trying to read his mind or something. 

“Just a virus. One of those twenty-four hour things. How did you know I was even here?”

“I tried your phone and got a busy signal.”

“It could have been someone else trying to call at the same time.”

She shot him a withering look, then snorted.

“Not for the last five minutes.”

“Okay.”

“You really need a better apartment,” she sighed, putting the plates on the cracked and worn formica top of the counter before grabbing a fork and doling out the food. Clark’s stomach rumbled at the delicious aroma, reminding him he hadn’t eaten all day. 

“I can’t afford one,” he said. 

She shrugged. “Oh, well.” She picked up the plates and came out, handing him one. “You are allowed to eat, right?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Good. Sit down and eat.”

He frowned at her. She was being bossy. Why was she being so bossy?

He grabbed a fork from the drawer and sat next to her on the couch. 

“So Chloe told you the news?” she asked. “I expect it was Chloe you were talking to which is why I couldn’t get you on the phone.”

There was no point in lying about it, since Lois knew he and Chloe were close.

“Yeah, she told me. You must be so relieved.”

“I am. And intrigued.”

“Intrigued?”

She frowned at him. “Chloe didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“The Guardian found him.”

Clark raised an eyebrow. “In Afghanistan? Why would the Guardian be over there?”

“Beats me, but that’s what my dad said.”

“But how does he know?”

“I’ve been following the Guardian for about a year, Smallville. I told my dad all about him.”

“But you’ve never seen his face. How do you know? Come to that, how would your dad know?”

“I don’t know but I have a feeling I’m right about this,” she said insistently. 

He shrugged, not knowing how else to respond. Lois didn’t seem to notice, continuing to chatter, telling him how she’d talked to her father and he would be coming home in a week’s time. He could tell how excited she was and how relieved she was to know that her father was okay. 

She started yawning halfway through the movie she’d insisted they watch on Clark’s old tv. He didn’t get cable, since he couldn’t really afford it, but she’d flicked through all the channels until she’d found something she liked. 

He had no idea why she insisted on staying, but she told him that since he’d been sick, she thought he might like the company. Clark didn’t want to say that it was Lois who wanted the company. 

She fell asleep with her head against his shoulder. Clark wanted to be a gentleman and put her in his bed, while he slept on the couch, but he couldn’t take the chance that he might float in his sleep, or that she might come out and see him. He covered her with a blanket and got a pillow from his bed, giving her a gentle kiss goodnight on the forehead. She muttered something in her sleep and unconsciously pulled the blanket up. 

***

Lois was disoriented when she woke up, wondering why her bed was so lumpy. As she shifted, she sniffed, getting a whiff of a scent that was definitely masculine. She buried her nose in the pillow, surrounding herself with the scent, smiling softly.

A door opened and she looked up, blinking. Clark came out of his bedroom, moving quietly as he went to the kitchen to switch on the coffee pot. At least, that’s what she thought he did. She sat up, pushing the blanket off her.

“I thought you were still asleep,” he said.

“No, I’m awake. I guess I was more tired than I thought.”

He nodded. “I’m not surprised. I’m guessing you haven’t been sleeping well for the past few weeks. Not since your dad disappeared.”

She frowned at him. “About that …”

“I’m sure your dad’s okay,” he said. 

“It’s not that, it’s … I think Lex might have had something to do with what happened.”

His brow furrowed in concern. “What do you mean? I thought he was taken by a terrorist group?”

“He was. But that wasn’t where he’d been the past few weeks. I think Lex had him taken in some twisted attempt to get me to turn to him.”

Clark went to pour the freshly brewed coffee, handing her a cup. He spoke slowly.

“Why would Lex …” He coughed and tried to clear his throat. Lois narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.

She got the distinct impression he knew a lot more about this than he was saying. She had been thinking over the situation and a lot of things just didn’t add up. She had pretended the night before that she had believed Clark about going to Nell’s. It just didn’t strike her as something Clark would do. He seemed so independent – why would he go to his foster mother if he was sick? Then there was the way Chloe had tried to cover for him. Chloe used to be better at lying, especially when the two of them had gone out without permission as teenagers. They’d once got caught trying to get in to a club and had had to face Chloe’s father. Gabe Sullivan had been pissed as hell, but Chloe had smoothly told him they had been dragged there by some of the girls who worked at the Daily Planet, where Chloe had been doing her summer internship and as soon as they’d realised they’d tried to get out of it. 

She had been thinking too about her feelings for Clark, wondering why it had upset her so much that he hadn’t been there when she’d needed him. In spite of her determination that she was going to focus on her career, she had started to realise that Clark meant much more to her than that. She’d liked going on the date with him the other night. He was funny and smart and the sweetest guy she’d ever known. 

Maybe they hadn’t known each other very long, but she was certain of one thing. When she pictured the future, she pictured him in it. Still, that all depended on whether he was prepared to be honest with her. She couldn’t see them in a relationship if there was a wall of secrets between them. 

“Clark, do you know something about this?”

“No,” he said quickly. Too quickly. 

“Liar,” she accused. She put her cup down on the little table. “I think you know more than you’re telling me. I’m not stupid you know, Clark. You’re hiding something from me. You really think I believe you were sick yesterday? I told Chloe I came here and she tried to cover for you but I knew she was lying. Now I’m giving you one chance to come clean.”

Clark flinched, then sighed. He was silent for a few moments, clearly struggling with his own conscience. She chewed on her lip, not wanting to push, but still needing the truth. 

“Please, Clark. If there’s ever a chance for us, for our … friendship, then I need you to be honest with me. Where were you yesterday? And please don’t tell me you were at Nell’s. Don’t treat me like an idiot, Clark.”

“Lois, I was … I was trying to find out what happened to your dad. I was working with a friend.”

“But you knew Lex was behind it. Did you say something to Oliver?” she asked.

“I barely know Oliver,” he said in protest.

That didn’t answer the question, but she let it go, standing and glaring at him. 

“Clark, I just want to know.”

He stared at her for a long moment, then dropped his shoulders in defeat.

“I overheard Lex talking to someone. It was the day I interviewed with Perry. I didn’t hear much but it was enough to imply that he knew something about what happened to your dad.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked. 

“I wanted to, but I didn’t want to see you hurt like that. Plus, I didn’t know what Lex would do if you confronted him. We may not have been working together very long, Lois, but I think I know you well enough that you would confront Lex. Especially over this.”

He was right. She would have. She would have let her anger get the better of her and gone to Lex, accusing him of playing games. It would not have been the best move. As hurt as she was that Clark would keep something like that from her, she realised he was trying to do what was in her best interests. The last thing she’d needed was for Lex to know she was on to him. 

“I’m sorry, Lois.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I understand why you did. I mean, Ollie told me what Lex was up to and I had thoughts even then of going and telling him off. If you’d told me then I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself.” She chewed on her lip. “Um, so this friend you were working with, he doesn’t happen to wear black, does he?”

Clark didn’t answer her, but he didn’t have to. I’m right, she thought. He’s working with the Guardian. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you knew him?” she asked. “Oh, wait, don’t answer that. He probably asked you to keep his secret. Even the fact that you knew him. Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I mean, I can understand why you wouldn’t tell me. He probably doesn’t trust reporters.”

“It’s not reporters,” Clark said quietly. “He just wants to help and he doesn’t feel the need to stick around and answer questions.”

She bit her lip. It must be so lonely, she thought. She didn’t know what all of his abilities were, but she realised that those abilities were what set him apart from everyone else. 

She could understand why Clark was protecting the Guardian’s secret. The two of them clearly had a lot in common in many ways. Both lonely, driven apart from others because of various issues. 

She couldn’t be mad at Clark. Not now. Not knowing what he had tried to do for her. 

“Well, I’m gonna go,” she said. “Perry will be spitting tacks but I figure he owes me a couple of days. Besides, he’ll be wanting to know about Dad.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Clark asked. “About all this, I mean?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I mean, yeah, I’m a little upset that you lied to me, but I know you had your reasons and I guess I can respect that. So, uh, I guess I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”

She wanted to hug him, kiss him, or something. He looked so contrite that she knew she couldn’t stay angry with him. 

She left Clark’s apartment, waving at Jackson, who was sitting once more on the steps of his building, smoking. He grinned back at her. She chuckled, wondering if the old man was thinking she had slept with Clark, when it couldn’t be further from the truth. He was a nice old guy. Probably saw a lot more than people thought he did. 

By the time she had showered and changed and reported at the Planet, Perry was on the warpath. She’d already missed one deadline.

“Great Caesar’s ghost, Lane, what time do you call this?”

“Sorry chief,” she said. “I overslept.”

He gestured for her to go into her office, glaring at the staff who were staring back, clearly trying to hear the conversation. Lois stood beside the desk as Perry closed the door.

“I heard about your dad,” he said. “I’m happy for you.”

“I’m just relieved he’s okay,” she returned. “I know I’m late, Chief, but I …”

He waved his hand, dismissing the apology she was about to make.

“Forget about it honey, you barely take any leave as it is. I practically had to get your cousin to drag you out. When does your dad get back?”

“He said it would take a week as he has to do a debrief. I guess they want to know more about the terrorists who took him.”

She bit her lip as she looked at her boss, thinking about how her father had got into the situation in the first place.

“What is it, honey?” Perry asked.

She was about to tell him her suspicions of Lex when the very man knocked on the door.

“There you are, Perry,” he said. “We need to go over the budget.” He smiled at Lois. “I heard the news. Congratulations. I’m happy to hear your father is safe and sound.”

Are you? she thought, studying him carefully. Lex was a smooth operator as she didn’t see anything which would give away how he felt about the whole mess. He had to be pissed off though, she decided. 

She smiled at Lex in reply and thanked him, inwardly seething. One day, she thought. One day I will get you. 

Perry left her to work and Lois logged in, clearing her emails before setting to work on a couple of stories. She felt energised and better than she had in weeks, despite the sleep on the lumpy couch. 

***

Clark pressed the buzzer to summon the elevator to Oliver’s clock tower, glancing in the corner of the lobby at the camera as he waited, knowing Oliver or Chloe would check the monitor.

He stepped into the car, wincing at the way the gears grinded and squealed. The elevator was an old freight elevator and clearly was in need of some decent maintenance. He stood waiting for it to reach the top floor of the tower.

Oliver grinned at him as he stepped out.

“Glad you made it,” he said. “Something to drink?”

Clark frowned at him. This wasn’t a social call. Oliver cleared his throat. 

“Right. Well, why don’t you come on in? Meet some friends of mine.”

A young African American man was sprawled casually on the couch. Clark frowned at him.

“Don’t I know you?” he said.

“Yeah, you went to Metropolis High,” the other man said. 

Clark remembered. After they’d moved to Metropolis, Nell had enrolled both him and Lana in Metropolis High. 

“Victor Stone,” he said. “You were the star of the football team.”

“Well, not quite, but yeah, that was me.”

Clark was puzzled. “I heard you died in a car crash right around graduation.”

“My parents and my little sister did. I survived. Sort of.”

“Sort of?”

“Long story.”

“And we don’t have time for long stories,” another man said, walking past Clark with a glass of what appeared to be orange juice. He was wearing an orange shirt with green shorts. 

Clark snickered. Lana had always kidded him about his preference for red and blue, but this guy’s taste in clothing was worse.

“Speak for yourself, Fish Stick!” Bart answered, walking into the room. “Hey amigo!”

Clark grinned at Bart. “Hey Bart.”

“That walking tuna can is Arthur Curry, although we call him A.C.”

A.C sighed. “Fish jokes again!”

“Have to keep you on your fins,” Bart grinned. 

“Okay, if you ladies have finished, Clark you want to weigh in here? Give us a brief rundown of what happened yesterday.”

Clark nodded and told them what had happened. Oliver seemed concerned when he heard how Bart had been captured by the terrorists.

“No big,” Bart replied. 

“The general didn’t see you?”

Bart shrugged. “He may have. They made me take off my hoodie.”

Oliver bit his lip. “That could be a problem. What about you, Clark?”

“I don’t think he saw me but from what I heard from Lois last night, the general knows it was me, or well, the Guardian.”

“Do we need to do damage control?”

“Let’s play it by ear,” Clark said. “So, uh, why the meet and greet?”

“Victor, A.C and Bart have all run into trouble with Lex at one time or another. Bart got caught trying to steal something from Lex and was hunted down by Lex’s people, A.C tried to interfere with a military project Lex was developing, and Victor was an unwilling participant in an experiment with cybernetics.”

“Cybernetics?”

“You’re looking at the modern-day version of the bionic man, although I expect I cost a lot more than six million bucks,” Victor said. 

“I’m sorry,” Clark winced. 

Victor shrugged. “I’m over it. Ollie helped.”

“So, what’s your story?” A.C asked.

Clark bit his lip. As tough as it was to trust people, his instincts told him he could trust all four of them. 

“I don’t really know. All I know is that I was born on another planet and I came to Earth in the midst of a meteor shower back in ’89. I found this out when my parents died. I was ten.”

“God, man, I’m so sorry,” Victor said. “We didn’t know each other at school but I heard you were orphaned.”

“It’s okay,” Clark said. “I mean, I had Nell, my foster mother, and she’s done her best. My grand-dad just didn’t want anything to do with it.”

“So your powers …”

“I was always pretty strong and when I was about six I developed super-speed. Other things have kind of come along as I’ve got older.”

“I’m not surprised Lex is showing an interest in you,” Oliver said. “Word is, he’s undertaking illegal experiments, trying to recreate certain abilities. My spy in Luthorcorp tells me he’s using some kind of meteor rock. I’m guessing it’s from the same meteor that came down with you.”

Clark nodded. “Probably,” he agreed. “Not long after the meteor shower there were stories about people who began to change and develop odd abilities. Some thought it might have something to do with the Luthorcorp fertiliser plant, but Chloe figured out the connection to the meteor rock.”

Oliver grinned. “Yeah, she’s nosy like that.”

Clark looked at the blond man. “So is that why you’re really here? To investigate Lex?”

“Among other things,” Oliver said casually. “But yeah, primarily Lex and his experiments. Are you in?”

“I’d like to help,” Clark told him.

“Good, but there’s something you need to do first.”

“What’s that?”

“You need a disguise.”

Clark frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

“Look, the glasses thing I get, but it’s not going to stop someone like Lex if he’s determined enough to try and unmask you, so to speak. If I could identify you, so could he. Unfortunately it’s not a simple matter of putting on a pair of glasses anymore. You stand still long enough for someone to get a photo of you and it’s all over. Lex would have you in a lab quicker than you could blink.”

Clark bit his lip. Of course, he thought. With the technology out there, it wouldn’t take much to identify him. Something like facial recognition software could easily bypass the glasses.

“I don’t intend to stay still,” he said.

“That’s great, but things happen,” Oliver told him. “Like the other night at Westcott’s mansion. Besides, it’s been my experience that people are inherently suspicious of anyone who sticks to the shadows. No matter how much someone like Lois will defend you, there is always going to be one in the crowd who will try to turn them against you.”

Clark sighed. Oliver had certainly given him something to think about. Still, he wasn’t ready to ‘come out’ yet. 

“I’ll think about it,” he said. 

“Don’t take too long,” Oliver warned him. “Now, about these experiments of Lex’s. Chloe’s trying to track down some of Lex’s research labs to pinpoint where he’s running his little operation. Bart?”

Bart immediately stood. The others had been quiet while Clark and Oliver had been talking but they were clearly ready for action.

“Luthorcorp has a facility in Mexico. I want you to run down and see what you can sniff out.”

“Got it, boss.”

Oliver turned back to Clark. “I’ll call you if we need you,” he said.

Clark nodded. There was something he had to do first. He left the clocktower and sped back to his apartment, taking the metal disc from behind the radiator where he’d hidden it the night before. 

Clutching the disc in hand, he ran to the farm. The fields looked as if they were being well tended but the buildings were deserted. There weren’t even any tracks to suggest someone had been at the farm recently, which was a relief. 

He quickly glanced around, seeing nothing out of place, then went to the storm cellar, unlocking the heavy bolt securing the doors. He descended into the darkness, making sure to close the doors behind him. 

His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. Clark made his way to the far wall of the cellar and touched a wood panel. 

As a child, Clark had loved to read and there had been a series of mystery novels based in England which had been a particular favourite. There were several stories involving secret panels which he’d found fascinating.

After his parents died, Clark had realised he needed to find a good hiding place for the ship, realising if anyone else saw it, it would be carted off to some secret government lab. He had done a bit of research and learned how to create a hidden room within the storm cellar, telling no one, not even Lana, what he’d done. 

The false door opened, allowing him entry. It was pitch black and he had to feel his way until his eyes adjusted. Unfortunately his super powers didn’t come with the ability to see in absolute darkness and there wasn’t much light coming from the doorway behind him. 

He managed to feel for the indentation on the ship and took the disc from his pocket. Immediately the disc began to vibrate in his hand, like when he was four and he’d clutched the electric fence in the back forty. There was a humming sound and the disc flew from his hand. Clark heard a distinct click then the ship rose in the air. Bright light blinded him for a few seconds and he flung an arm across his eyes to shield them. 

“Greetings, Kal-El,” a voice boomed.


	13. Heritage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark learns about his heritage and Lois goes out with Lex

Clark stared at the activated ship, the booming voice and light show making him step back nervously.

“Who … who are you?”

“I am Jor-El. Your father.”

Clark frowned and shook his head.

“I don’t understand. How can you be my father?”

“I am his memory, his will. I am to fulfil his promise and guide you all the days of your life. You are the last son of Krypton, Kal-El. When you travelled through the cosmos, you carried the hopes and dreams of your people.”

“I don’t understand,” Clark repeated. “What is Krypton?”

There was a strange glow emanating from the ship, then it showed what seemed to be a hologram of a planet, with a red sun.

“Krypton. Your home.”

“What happened to it?”

“A devastating event.”

“What did you mean, ‘last son’?”

“You are all that is left, Kal-El. The only survivor of a doomed planet. Your mother and I sent you to Earth for a purpose. To guide the people and prevent the same kind of consequences that befell our own planet.”

“What must I do?”

“There are three elements.” Another hologram showed him what looked like three crystals, each with different symbols. “You must recover them. Together they will create a crystal which will form what the people of Earth call a fortress. When it is complete you must begin your training.”

“Why were these elements separated in the first place?” Clark asked.

“It was feared that if these elements were to fall into the wrong hands they could be used to harm mankind.”

“How do I find them?”

“That is something I cannot help you with, my son. The elements were hidden by a Kryptonian who came to Earth many decades past. I have no means to locate him.”

Clark frowned. “There must be some way …”

“There is not. I wish you luck, Kal-El.”

With that, the ship seemed to shut down. The edges of the key glowed for a second, then it was as if something pushed it out of the lock. Clark supposed it was meant to be some kind of security measure. He picked the key up off the floor and pocketed it, making sure the ship was safely locked away once more before leaving the farm. 

He returned to the city, once more hiding the disc in his apartment. He picked up his laptop and put it on the table, using one of his graphics programs to draw each symbol as he remembered them. He had no idea how to go about searching for each symbol, but after some searching he found a site that would allow him to upload the files. The site apparently had access to millions of images and if there was anything to be found, he hoped it would be there.

The only problem was his laptop was not powerful enough to undertake such a search. After an hour it began overheating and he knew he needed something with a bigger processor. 

He grabbed his phone and dialled a number.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me. I need your help on something.”

“Sure Clark. What do you need?”

He quickly explained.

“Why don’t you come over?”

Clark bit his lip, but agreed. He sped to the address he was given, startled to realise it was a building he passed in the bus almost every day on his way to work or to the university. It was fairly distinctive, about ten storeys, with a huge dome and stained glass windows. 

He made his way up the stairs and through the opened double doors. Chloe was standing in the middle of the room, her hands poised over a keyboard, her gaze directed at a huge screen.

“What is this place?” Clark asked.

There was various scaffolding about the room which told him it was still in the process of being built.

“Welcome to Watchtower,” Chloe said. “Or it’s going to be, when it’s fully renovated. Ollie signed the papers on it a couple of weeks ago.”

“Watchtower?”

“I guess you could say it’s a hero hub. Ollie thought it would be a good idea to have a central communications base. It’s not finished yet so we only have the basics, but the system’s better than just my laptop.”

Clark couldn’t get over the place, turning around and around to check out the main floor and the mezzanine floor above.

Chloe smiled at him. “So what did you need my help with?”

He bit his lip. “The other night, when we were in Lex’s office, I found something. A key.”

His friend frowned. “A key? To what?”

“My ship,” he said. “Anyway, I opened the ship and there was this voice …” He began explaining what he had heard and his search for the symbols.

“My laptop isn’t powerful enough for what I need. I was hoping you might be able to help me crosscheck the symbols Jor-El gave me.”

She nodded. “Of course I can. It’s just … wow, Clark. I mean, this is …”

“I know. It’s a lot to take in, but will you help me?”

“You know I will. I can’t tell you exactly how long it will take, but I can call you as soon as I find something.”

He smiled and wrapped an arm around her in a one-armed hug. 

“Thanks Chloe. You’ve really been there for me the past few years and I don’t think I ever thanked you for that.”

“You know that whole thing about love meaning you never have to say you’re sorry? Well, it works just as well for friendship.” She bit her lip and looked at him. “Are you going to tell Lois?”

He grimaced. As much as he liked Lois and liked working with her, he wasn’t sure he was ready to tell her everything yet. Chloe looked at him sympathetically.

“Clark, I know you were taught to protect yourself, but don’t you think Lois has a right to know?”

“She does, but … I don’t know. I guess I’m just afraid.”

“Of what?”

“What if she doesn’t like me if I tell her the truth? What if she decides that she can’t be with me because of it?”

“That’s an awful lot of ‘what ifs’,” Chloe responded. “But … look, I know I can be over-protective at times, of both of you. It’s just that you’ve both been hurt and I hate to see it happen again. But Ollie said something to me yesterday that made me think. I mean, when I first met Ollie, I thought, here’s a good looking guy who is rich and successful. What chance could I have with him? But you know what? I took a chance. I asked him out. I mean, after we’d been working together for a little while.”

She shook her head. “What I’m saying is, take a chance with Lois. You don’t know how she’s going to react to the truth unless you tell her. I mean, I know it was different with Lana. Nell took you in and Lana had to know the truth about you, but that turned out okay.”

“It didn’t at first,” Clark admitted.

Chloe frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

“Lana was scared of me at first, even though we’d known each other since we were five. She used to look at me like I was, I don’t know, the creature from the black lagoon or something.”

“So you’re judging Lois on how Lana reacted?”

Clark sighed, sitting down on a couch which was covered in plastic. He was acutely conscious of the way the plastic sheeting squeaked.

“Do you know what it was like for me to find out what I was when my parents died?”

Chloe sat beside him. “I can imagine it must have been a devastating time.”

He nodded. His grandfather had been with him when the bank had opened up the safety deposit box. They’d left a letter in the box which was only to be read by him, or in this case, his grandfather and him. Grandad William had taken the letter from his shaking hands and the look on his face had been one of utter shock and disbelief. 

Clark remembered how it felt to be rejected by his grandfather, who had been afraid of what Clark might become. As if he were suddenly going to sprout tentacles. 

Clark had had nightmares for weeks afterwards, thinking the same thing. His worst one had been based on some kind of alien movie he’d seen a year before his parents died. Pete had managed to get a copy of it on tape, although his parents hadn’t realised he’d seen it. There had been a scene in an operating theatre where a doctor was cutting in to the alien creature and both he and Pete had jumped when the outer skin had suddenly split apart to reveal it was just a kind of space suit for the creature inside. 

He’d woken up screaming one night after one such dream and Nell had come running in. He had told her about the nightmare. She hadn’t been happy that he and Pete had actually watched the movie but she had held him and soothed him, telling him that she didn’t think he was going to become that and that no matter what she would always love him.

Chloe had listened in silence as he’d told the story, the tears falling down her face.

“Oh Clark, no wonder!”

“I just couldn’t stand the thought that Lois might think the same thing.”

His friend wrapped her arms around him. 

“Clarkbar, you’re an idiot. I mean, for one thing, if you were going to sprout tentacles, I think you’d have done it by now, and second, did I stop loving you when I found out your secret?”

He chewed on his bottom lip, then shook his head.

“No.”

“What’s the worst that can happen?” she asked. “You tell Lois your secret and how you feel about her and she throws it back in your face? Yes, she might be mad, but no, I don’t think she would do that. She’s not that kind of person.”

Chloe was right. If he didn’t take the chance, he could miss out on something amazing. Then again, if he did tell her everything, and she wanted nothing to do with him, he would have lost nothing.

Chloe rose from the couch and went to the computer. 

“Okay, did you bring the file with these symbols on it?” 

Clark nodded, handing her the flash drive. 

“What site were you using?”

He told her and she frowned. “Yeah, that one’s not gonna cut it. You need to do at least several different searches through a range of sources.”

“My laptop’s too old and slow.”

“You really need to get a new one,” Chloe told him.

“Like everything else, it’s just going to have to wait until I finish my degree.”

Chloe didn’t reply, but he could tell she already had something in mind. He knew his laptop was on the critical list and given that he was planning on starting full-time studies next semester, it was something he would have to sort out sooner rather than later. He just couldn’t see any way of doing so, though, since the money he’d had in trust since the majority of the farm had been sold was only enough to cover college tuition. 

Chloe was already absorbed in her task, tapping on the keyboard as she brought up a number of sources to cross check. Clark bit his lip.

“Uh, I guess I should leave you to it,” he said.

“Don’t worry, Clarkbar. This could take a while, but I promise I will call you if something comes up.”

“Thanks Chloe.”

She turned and smiled briefly at him before turning back to her computer. Clark left quietly. 

***

Lois was busy at work, having been out most of the day chasing up another story on Intergang. She was so focused on writing that she didn’t hear the knock on her door.

“Ahem!”

She looked up, realising Lex was in the doorway.

“Hey, Lex, I’m sorry, I’m really busy with this story.”

“That’s a shame. I was hoping you would like to have dinner with me. Celebrate your news about your father.”

She tried to look apologetic, but part of her kept wondering what he really wanted.

“I’d love that, Lex, but I have a lot of work to catch up on. After being away yesterday and being late in this morning …” She trailed off.

“You can still take time off,” he insisted. “I’m the boss and I can okay it.”

Damn it, the man was persistent, she would give him that much. She had no idea how she was going to get out of having dinner with him. There was no Clark around to use for an excuse this time. He hadn’t been around all day and she was a little annoyed at him. Okay, so he wasn’t supposed to be working that day, but that wasn’t the point.

She considered the situation. On the one hand, she really didn’t like Lex. Especially after what she’d learned about his manipulating the situation in Afghanistan. On the other hand, this might be an opportunity to try and figure out what he was up to. Why was he so keen to get her on side?

“You know,” she said, “I could use something to eat.”

Lex smiled. Well, it was more a smirk than a smile, but he was clearly thinking he had got his way. 

“Great,” he said. “I know this little out of the way place.”

He held out his hand as if expecting her to take it. Lois grabbed her bag and followed him out, trying not to grimace as he took her arm.

His little ‘out of the way’ place turned out to be an exclusive restaurant which was clearly designed for romantic tête-à-têtes. It was small and intimate. Hardly the kind of place she would go to with someone who was barely even a friend. 

Lex insisted on ordering for both of them, telling the waiter to bring out his best bottle of champagne. Lois bit her lip as she looked at him.

“Lex, I really shouldn’t be drinking.”

“One drink,” he said. “Besides, you should celebrate. Your father’s safe.”

“You’re right,” she said. “But one drink. I need to go back to work after this.”

Lex nodded, but she could see the flash of annoyance in his eyes at her resistance. She wondered if he had planned on getting her drunk. Having grown up in army bases, she had been drinking hard liquor from about the age of fifteen. After all, military boys could be hard drinkers themselves and she had wanted to fit in.

Of course, it was one of the reasons she had been kicked out of Met U. The administration had frowned on the under-age drinking, never mind the fact that a lot of under-age drinking went on all over campus. They'd chosen to make an example of her.

Realising it was part of the problem, Lois had stayed away from it and rarely drank unless it was a special occasion.

Dinner with Lex was hardly a special occasion. Besides, she thought, I need my wits about me.

“So, you must be happy that your father’s okay,” Lex was saying.

She nodded. “I am. He called me from the base that night and it was just so good to hear his voice. He’ll be home in a few days. I was actually thinking of asking for a couple of days off, just so I could spend some time with him.”

Lex smiled. “Of course.” He studied her. “There is a rumour that the Guardian was behind the rescue.”

“That’s what my dad said too,” she told him, reluctantly. It somehow didn’t feel right, Lex knowing about the Guardian.

“I wonder how he knew,” Lex mused. 

She wasn’t going to tell him what she knew. That Clark actually knew him and had been working with him. She had the feeling Lex wouldn’t welcome the news. He was already jealous over her friendship with Clark, if it could be called that. The truth was, she was beginning to want more. 

Last night, falling asleep while watching the movie with him had been a first for her. She had never been comfortable around other men; certainly not so comfortable that she could fall asleep. There was just something about Clark that felt right. 

“You know,” Lex said, after the waitress had taken their orders, “your cousin was working on the theory that the meteor rocks in Smallville gave people certain abilities.”

“I know,” she said. “Chloe’s been telling me about it for years.”

“It does make me curious. Where did this Guardian come from? Why has he only appeared in Metropolis? At least, until now. I find it rather unusual, and more than a little disconcerting that the Guardian somehow knew your father was in trouble.”

She frowned at him.

“What are you trying to say, Lex? You think the Guardian is … I don’t know, Perry or something?”

Lex smirked. “I highly doubt that. For one thing Perry’s is far too out of shape. For another, he’s not tall enough. I’ve had witnesses who tell me the Guardian is someone with dark hair and at least six foot three. Now, doesn’t that match someone you know?”

“Witnesses?” she asked, beginning to get why Lex was so insistent on her coming out to dinner with him. It was a fishing expedition. She was the bait and Clark was the fish.

“That description could fit about a quarter of the men in Metropolis,” she said. “And what witnesses? Everyone I’ve talked to said he moved too fast for them to get a decent look at him.”

“I have my sources,” Lex said smugly. 

The waitress brought out their appetisers. Lois had opted for a mushroom tart while Lex had asked for octopus. Lex took a bite of his dish and immediately spat it out, then snapped his fingers. The waitress did not look happy at the way she was summoned. 

“This is overcooked,” he said in a condescending tone. “It’s rubbery. Send it back.”

Lois ducked her head as Lex continued to berate the waitress. Her father had taught her a long time ago that the best way to judge someone was how they treated someone who either worked for them or whose job it was to serve them in some way. Lois had seen some classic examples of the type of people she would rather stay well away from. 

Screw the fishing expedition, she thought, getting to her feet. Lex frowned at her. 

“What are you doing, Lois? Sit down. Look, I’m sorry if I embarrassed you …”

“Oh you embarrassed me all right. Mostly you humiliated the poor waitress. If your dish is bad it’s not her fault and you had no right to treat her like that.”

“Well, she needs to learn …”

“No, you need to learn, Lex,” she said. “People like her are doing their best to scrape a living. Just because you own a multi-billion dollar company it doesn’t give you the right to walk all over people!” 

She turned and walked out before she could say something she regretted. Like tell him off for trying to manipulate her. 

As she left the restaurant, she ran into someone. A man with dark brown hair and a burly build.

“Well, Lois Lane.”

She looked up and frowned at the man. She had no idea who he was.

“Yeah, who are you?”

“Funny, I figured you would have known me on sight, considering how much you’ve been writing about me lately.”

She had been writing about only two or three people lately. The Guardian, Green Arrow, and Bruno Mannheim, the supposed leader of Intergang. She glared up at him.

“Mannheim.”

“One and the same.”

“I don’t have time for this,” she said, trying to brush past him. He grabbed her arm in a painful grip.

“Well, I do. Don’t do anything stupid, Lane.”

Lois quickly glanced around. Where was a cop when you needed one? Oh, right, she thought. Too busy eating donuts and drinking coffee. 

She let herself be led toward a black sedan but as the gang leader began digging in his pockets for his car keys, she used his moment of distraction to wrench her arm free, then kicked him hard just below his knee. She heard the crack and he lost his balance.

Every instinct told her to run, but she knew there was a fairly good chance Mannheim had a gun. The man was leaning his back against the car, trying to regain his equilibrium as he scrabbled in the pocket of his jacket. Not wanting to take a chance, she hit him again, this time with a hard punch to the gut, the way one of the soldiers on the base had taught her when she was thirteen. 

However, instead of incapacitating him as she hoped, it had just enraged him. Mannheim growled, pulling out his gun, but something hit him in the shoulder. His eyes went wide and he shuddered, then collapsed. A closer look told her what it was. An arrow with some kind of electrical charge.

She looked up but it was too dark for her to see anyone. With Mannheim almost incapacitated, Lois ran. She saw a taxi coming and waved, but the driver was either ignoring her or hadn’t seen her. 

She began making her way back to the Daily Planet, which was at least ten city blocks. The cold night air made her shiver.

“Lois?”

She looked up. Clark was crossing the road toward her, looking surprised to see her.

“Clark, hi.”

“Where are you coming from?” he asked.

“Oh, I went to have dinner with Lex. Well, not really. It was a bust.”

“No dinner?” 

She shook her head, not really wanting to tell him what had happened. 

“Well, I was just going to go grab something from the diner on the corner,” Clark said, indicating the little out of the way Mom and Pop diner. “They make really great hamburgers.”

Lois had lost her appetite in the restaurant, but the thought of a nice juicy hamburger made her stomach growl. Clark must have heard it as he grinned. 

“My treat,” he offered.

She grinned back at him. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Kent.”

He opened the door and ushered her in. They quickly found a booth and sat down. The waitress brought them a carafe of water and menus.

“Anything to drink?” she said.

“Could I have a root beer?” Lois asked. 

“Iced tea for me, please,” Clark said politely. 

“Sure. I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

The woman smiled at Clark and Lois was hit with an irrational wave of jealousy. She hid behind her menu, pretending to peruse it.

“So, what happened with Lex?” Clark asked.

“It’s nothing. I just …”

“Come on, you can tell me.”

She sighed as she looked at him. He was smiling at her with that megawatt smile that could make her melt into a puddle of goo if she wasn’t careful. 

“Well, the truth is, Lex was rude to the staff. And I didn’t like it.”

Clark cocked an eyebrow at her. “Rude? What was he saying?”

“It’s not so much what he was saying as how he was saying it. Like he thought he was better than them because he has more zeroes on his paycheck or something.”

Her companion nodded. “Yeah. My dad used to tell me a lot of things, like a man is judged by the company he keeps. He also said that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he treats others. Not just his peers but those who are … well, I don’t think he was saying they were beneath him, but …”

“No, I know what you mean. My dad told me the same thing, and you know what? I think he’s right. Anyway, I got so mad at Lex, I walked out.”

The waitress was back with their drinks and Clark smiled and thanked her. He was rewarded with a brilliant smile. 

“Would you like to order?” she asked, still with her gaze on Clark. As much as Lois hated that, she decided it would be rude to call the woman on it. Maybe she was just trying to be friendly.

Lois quickly looked at her menu and found the item she wanted.

“So, can I get the hamburger with everything. Mustard, relish, mayo. The works.”

The woman looked at her dubiously.

“I have to warn you, it’s pretty big.”

“That’s okay. I’m pretty hungry. And fries too?”

“I’d like the same,” Clark told her. “With everything.” He grinned at her. “I like a girl with a good appetite.”

She grinned back at him, holding up her glass of root beer. “Then you are gonna love me, Clark Kent.”

As they clinked glasses, she couldn’t help thinking. Why did I say that?


	14. Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark opens up about his parents' deaths and Lois learns more about Intergang and a possible connection to Lex.

“So, tell me more about your parents,” Lois said.

“What do you want to know?” Clark asked, with a smile. She seemed genuinely interested as she leaned forward.

“Everything,” she said.

He laughed and sipped his drink. It was sweet, but not too sweet. Just the way he liked it.

“Well, my mom’s name was Martha. I told you that she grew up in Metropolis and she met my dad when he came here to do a finance course at Met U. I think she was studying pre-law. My grandad kind of hoped she would follow in his footsteps.”

“Your grandad’s a lawyer?” Lois asked.

He nodded. “He and my grandmother moved to Coast City about five years ago.”

“Why didn’t he want you to live with them?”

He wanted to tell her the truth, but he wasn’t sure how he could explain it without revealing his origins. He had thought about the things Chloe had said and while she had made some good points, he just wasn’t ready for that yet. He still didn’t know much about his own heritage. How would he explain it all to Lois?

“I don’t really know. I guess he just felt it was too much to raise a ten year old, especially when he and my grandma were about to retire.”

“Still, that’s pretty sad.”

“I didn’t actually meet my grandparents until my parents died,” he confessed. 

Lois looked startled. “What? Why not?”

“Well, there was this story that my dad, when he went to ask my grandad about he and my mom getting married, they sort of had this big fight and my dad ended up hitting him.”

Lois stared at him. “He hit him?”

“I guess Grandad didn’t think my dad was good enough for my mom.”

He could see she was thinking it over. It did seem rather sad that he had never really been able to have a close relationship with his grandfather, but Nell had once told him that sometimes people were just too stubborn to try to see things from another point of view.

He recalled Nell had had a pretty big argument with his Grandad, not even two days after the funeral in which they’d buried his parents, telling him he had a responsibility toward his grandson. William, his grandfather, had pointed out that he hadn’t even known about Clark until Martha was dead and if she hadn’t seen fit to inform him he had a grandchild, then he didn’t see how it could be his responsibility.

Clark had ended up running out, sobbing, still barely able to deal with the shock of losing his parents and then having his grandfather refuse to have anything to do with him on top.

Nell had come looking for him. Clark had been sitting on the couch in the barn loft, clutching a stuffed animal his mother had made for him when he was little, sobbing as if his heart was broken.

She sat next to him, stroking his hair, not even saying a word. He’d ended up curled in her lap until the tears finally subsided.

“Sweetie, how would you like to come and live with me and Lana?” she said gently. 

“Lana hates me,” he replied, his words muffled against the denim fabric of her jeans. Nell seemed to know what he was talking about. When Lana had learned about his secret she had run away and refused to talk to him.

“No, she doesn’t. She just doesn’t know what it means.”

“I don’t even know what it means,” he wailed.

“I know, sweetie, but that’s something we can all figure out together.” She coaxed him to sit up. “Clark, sweetheart, I know this is hard for you. But you can’t stay here on the farm.”

“Where’m I gonna go then? Grandad doesn’t want me.”

She was quiet for a moment, stroking his hair. 

“Well, you know something? It’s your grandfather’s loss. He doesn’t know the wonderful, sweet boy you are.”

He looked up at her. “Can I really come and live with you?”

“Do you want to?” she asked. “It’s your choice honey.”

“What would happen if I didn’t?”

“Well, then Child Services would probably put you in a foster home,” Nell told him. 

“But if I went and lived with strangers, they wouldn’t like me.”

Even at ten, he understood the ramifications. Child Services would have to know that he was different from other children and exactly how different. There was a fairly good chance that Child Services would call in doctors and Clark could be taken away by the government. 

“I like you,” Nell said simply. 

Living with Nell had been the best solution. His grandfather had organised all the legal paperwork so Child Services did not even have to get involved. Lana had eventually come around but it had taken a few weeks before she had been comfortable with what he was.

Clark looked up, hearing footsteps approaching. The waitress had brought their meals. She hadn’t been exaggerating when she said the hamburgers were huge, with homemade beef burgers, fresh buns and filled with fresh lettuce, tomato, onions and dripping with relish and mayo. The fries were crisp and golden, piled high on the plate, but Lois didn’t seem daunted at all.

“Mmm, this looks amazing!” she told the waitress, grinning up at her. 

The woman grinned back at Lois, her face lighting up in a huge smile. 

“Enjoy,” she said. 

Clark chuckled at Lois. “There’s a reason this diner’s known for the best hamburgers around.”

“Mmm, so I see,” she replied, picking up her burger and taking a bite. Her eyes closed in a pretty good approximation of bliss. Juice dripped down her chin but she didn’t seem to care. 

Clark was suddenly feeling the irrational urge to lean across the table and lick those juices off her chin before giving her a hot, passionate kiss. Okay, maybe not so irrational, he thought. 

Lois paused in chewing before looking at him.

“You’re not eating,” she said. “Something wrong with your hamburger?”

He shook his head. “No, I just couldn’t help watching you.”

She suddenly looked disconcerted. “Well, don’t.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I just … I like a woman with a hearty appetite. Lana never seemed to eat much. She’d mostly just pick.”

“I like food,” Lois replied with a shrug. “I don’t eat junk, mostly, and I still have to work at my figure, but I don’t count calories.” She looked sheepish. “I’m kind of a lousy cook. I know that. And yeah, I guess I end up throwing a frozen dinner in the microwave. I just never really learned to cook and now I don’t have the time. But I eat a lot of salads, vegetarian stuff. Not that I’m a vegan,” she added unnecessarily.

“I could teach you to cook,” he offered. Lois smiled, but didn’t take him up on the offer. Clark suddenly had a picture in his mind of the two of them in a kitchen, a little like the one at the farmhouse, cooking side by side. It was a nice, domestic picture. 

He picked up his burger and bit into it, feeling the juices run down his own chin. Lois paused, staring at him. Now it was Clark’s turn to feel a little disconcerted. He wasn’t so egotistical to assume that maybe she was thinking the same thing he had been.

“So, you said your Grandad didn’t like your dad? What about his parents?”

Clark shook his head. “My dad’s father, Hiram, died of a heart attack before my parents got married and my grandmother passed away about a year before Mom and Dad adopted me.”

“So, did you ever go looking for your birth parents? I mean, Chloe said they died when you were little and you were in an orphanage.”

Clark quietly thanked his best friend for coming up with that story. He didn’t think Lois would be quite ready for the ‘my real dad’s an alien recording in a spaceship’ kind of deal.

“I just knew that they died. I don’t really know much about them. I still like to think of Martha and Jonathan as my parents though.”

Lois nodded. “I kind of get where you’re coming from. I used to know this kid, back in high school. She had this really great relationship with her parents but it wasn’t until later that I found out she was adopted. Her birth mom gave her up for adoption to give her a better life. She was born in Chile but things were so bad there that her real mom sent her away so she didn’t have to suffer. Anyway, she used to hate it when people referred to her parents as her ‘adopted parents’, like it wasn’t real, or something. She knew about her birth mom and everything but that didn’t change how she felt for her mom and dad.”

“Yeah, I understand that. I mean, my parents told me I was adopted when I was six, but even though I did think about my birth parents, I never once thought of Mom and Dad as anything else.” He smiled. “My dad was really cool. I mean, he could be strict sometimes, and maybe a little over-protective, but I think it was because he and Mom couldn’t have kids of their own, so I was pretty much their only chance at having a family. He used to take me fishing and even though I hated it, I realised that it was less about fishing and more about him wanting to spend time with me. You know, just the guys.”

Lois chewed her lip. “I sometimes wish my dad had been like that, but like I said, I think he was just dealing with my mom’s death the only way he could. I used to resent it, but now I look back and I can see things a lot clearer.” She chuckled. “I was such a brat when I was a teenager.”

“You’ll be glad when he gets back,” Clark told her. 

“I’m gonna take a couple of days off work just to spend time with him.”

“That sounds nice,” Clark said wistfully. He would have given anything to be able to do that with his parents. Even though he had Nell, he still missed them.

Lois covered his hand with hers.

“You miss them,” she said. “I know. I miss my mom too. I bet your parents would be proud of you though.”

He nodded, his eyes prickling with unshed tears. “They would. They loved me.”

“Well, why wouldn’t they?” Lois replied. “I think you’re amazing, Clark.”

He smiled, feeling the warmth of her answering smile wash over him. He really wanted to kiss her but this was not the most appropriate place to do so. 

They finished their meals. Clark wasn’t surprised to see Lois had cleared her plate. She hadn’t been kidding when she said she was hungry. 

She took his plate and stacked it neatly on the side so the waitress could pick it up, then looked at him, leaning her elbows on the table.

“I know you don’t like talking about the accident, but what happened? I mean, I know what I read, but … How did your parents die?”

They had been coming home from a farmers’ meeting in Granville. Clark had gone to his friend Pete’s that night. It was the night Pete had borrowed the tape of the movie they’d watched which had given Clark nightmares later. It wasn’t that his parents hadn’t wanted him to go, but he tended to fidget if the meeting dragged too long. They usually did. 

Had he gone with them, he wondered if he might have been able to prevent the accident, even though Nell had told him often enough that he wouldn’t have been able to save them. Despite his powers.

There had been stories of teenagers racing cars on the highway, a dangerous activity in and of itself. The sheriff had told Clark and Pete’s family that Clark’s parents had started to cross the intersection when two cars came speeding out of nowhere. One had hit the truck, killing Jonathan on impact and tossing the truck like a Tonka toy. Martha had died of her injuries less than an hour later. 

The grief was etched on Lois’ face as he related the story. 

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “That must have been so hard for you.”

Clark bit his lip. “I remember I just stood there, staring at the sheriff. I didn’t want to believe it. Mrs Ross tried to stop me but I just ran out of the house. When I got to the farm I was basically screaming for them but they never came. I guess it didn’t take long for the news to spread around Smallville because Nell was suddenly there.”

He swallowed hard. It had been thirteen years but he still remembered the pain he’d felt, the way Nell had wrapped her arms around him and held him as he worked through his grief. 

“I’m glad you had Nell,” Lois said. “I mean, I don’t know her very well, but from what I’ve seen, she loves you.”

He nodded. “She does. I don’t think I would have got through those first few months if it hadn’t been for her.”

***

Lois squeezed his hand. She had been struggling to hold back the tears as he had told her the story. As tough as it had all been for him, losing his parents that way, she was relieved that he had had support from Nell. The woman was most likely a big part of why he had turned out to be the sweet guy he was.

She glanced over toward the counter, frowning. She hadn’t realised they’d been talking so long that the diner was being swept. There was another couple sitting at a table, but it was fairly clear the restaurant was closing. 

“I think they want to close up,” she said, all too familiar with the problems of being a server in a restaurant. She’d taken a part-time job her first year of college so she could at least have some spending money. Her boss had been the type of guy who didn’t care that she had early classes and would make her stay long after the restaurant was supposed to be closed just because someone had walked in to eat five minutes before closing time. 

Clark glanced at the check and took money out of his wallet, paying for the food and drinks and leaving enough for a generous tip. Lois followed him to the door, grinning as he thanked the waitress, who gave them both a genuine smile. She could swear she had heard their waitress and another waitress talking about what a cute couple they were. 

Lois had to admit they did make a cute couple. 

They began walking along the street together. Lois again felt the chill from the night air and shivered.

“Are you cold?” Clark said softly.

She rubbed her arms. She hadn’t exactly dressed for a walk in the streets at night.

“A little. It’s okay. I left my car at the Planet. I was going to go finish a story I was working on, but …”

“It’s late,” he replied. 

She nodded. “I can finish it up tomorrow.” She looked at him. “Do you want a ride home?”

“No, that’s okay,” he said. “It’s out of your way.”

“It’s no problem,” she insisted. “Although, you really should think about moving closer. I mean, sometimes I have to work late, or go on stakeouts and there’s not always a bus. Uh, I mean, if you were to come out on a stakeout with me …” She trailed off, not really sure what she had been trying to say. 

Clark just smiled at her. “I understand, and it’s fine, really. I’m a big boy.”

“Yes, you are,” she murmured, eyeing him. His clothes weren’t that well-fitted and she could tell he shopped in the likes of Sears or Walmart, but despite that, he was very well built underneath the clothes. She remembered the night he’d answered his door still wet from the shower. The way the water ran down his chest, leaving wet trails on his golden skin. 

She had to force herself to look away before she did something stupid.

She had to keep telling herself that it was too soon, that maybe Clark didn’t feel the same attraction for her that she did for him. That maybe he was serious about not wanting to get into a relationship. What had happened to her? How did she get from serious career woman to wanting more than a working friendship with this man?

She tried to tell herself that it was because she had been vulnerable after what had happened to her father. That Clark had caught her at a weak moment. She was kidding herself. She could have just accepted the small gift of the flowers and forgotten about it. Got on with her life. The truth was, it had intrigued her. 

Was she so cynical that she could think that no-one would be that kind-hearted to just leave her a gift without expecting anything in return? Was she so jaded from her job that everyone had to have an agenda? 

Stop it, she told herself. You’re over-thinking things. 

Clark had stopped walking and she frowned at him before realising they had reached Broadway. The globe over the entry indicated the Daily Planet. 

He was frowning at her.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing, you just went quiet. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I was just … thinking,” she said, staring at his lips. She remembered the kiss from the night they’d gone to the movies, how his lips had been so soft, yet his kiss had been a little demanding at first and she hadn’t been able to help her response.

God, she wanted to kiss him.

She stepped toward him. At the same time, Clark stepped toward her and they met in the middle. She kissed him, her arms around his neck as she took everything he had to give. 

Lois had never been much of a chick flick kind of girl, and there was one thing she’d always thought was kind of silly, and so clichéd. So it surprised her a little when her foot popped up, seeming of its own accord, as she continued to kiss Clark. 

Suddenly, Clark pulled away. Lois frowned at him.

“What is it?” He hesitated for a moment, his eyes doing an odd little dance as he gazed at her.

“You … you should get inside,” he said. “It’s cold. I’d hate for you to catch a chill.”

Why did Lois get the impression that that wasn’t what he’d been actually going to say? She bit her lip, then nodded. It was chilly. 

“You’re right,” she said. “I should get myself home. I … I left my car keys upstairs. Are you sure you don’t want a lift?”

“I’ll be fine,” he said. “Goodnight Lois.”

“Goodnight.”

She turned away as he started walking away and went to swipe her security card to let her in the locked building, one of the measures Lex had introduced when he had taken over the paper. She realised she hadn’t asked him if he would be in tomorrow and stepped back out to call to him. 

Clark was nowhere to be seen. There weren’t any alleys he could have turned down and he wasn’t walking across the street. It was as if he’d suddenly vanished into thin air.

“That’s weird,” she said. 

She sighed and made her way upstairs to her office. As she opened the door, she realised she had a visitor. Lex. And he was agitated.

“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying your cell since you walked out on me.”

“I turned it off,” she told him. 

“I heard Mannheim tried to …”

She snorted at him. “Don’t pretend you were worried, Lex.”

He approached her, placing his hands on her arms. She pulled away.

“Lois …”

“After I left the restaurant, and Mannheim, I started to walk back here and I ran into Clark. He took me to this diner and we had dinner.”

“Clark? Kent?”

“Do you know any other Clarks?” she asked.

“I want you to stay away from him.”

She glared at him. “Are you telling me who I can date now?”

The bald man cocked an eyebrow at her. “Date? I assumed you and Clark were just friends.”

She really wanted to tell him off. Tell him what she knew about her father’s disappearance in Afghanistan. Even though she knew it would just make the situation worse. 

“Lex, it is none of your business who I go out with. I’m not your … your girlfriend.”

He seemed to realise he was skating on thin ice as he took a few deep breaths and looked at her calmly.

“Forgive me, Lois. I just … after what I heard about the incident with Mannheim tonight, I was worried you might be hurt.”

Yeah? she thought. And just how much of that was actually your doing?

“Lex, I appreciate the concern, but I’m fine.” She decided not to tell him it was Green Arrow who had saved her. If he knew as much as she thought he did, she didn’t need to. “Look, it’s late and I really just want to go home, have a hot bath and sleep for like a million years.”

The billionaire publisher nodded. 

“Why don’t I walk you to your car?”

She knew she had no choice but to let him. She remained silent as they walked down to the parking garage. Lex escorted her to her car and opened the door for her.

“Lois, I’m only saying this because I care. I don’t think you and Clark getting in any kind of relationship is a good idea.”

“Why, Lex? Clark and I are professional enough to be … professional.”

“Clark’s an intern.”

“What does that have to do with anything? He’ll only be an intern for as long as it takes to get his degree. Besides, I’m not sure where this is going yet.”

“But you like him.”

She nodded. “Yes, I do. There’s something … something special about him.”

She couldn’t help but notice the wily expression from the man. As if he knew something she didn’t. 

“Oh, Clark is special all right,” he said.

Why did she get an ominous feeling when he said that?

She drove home, parking her car in the building next to the brownstone and walked the few yards to the steps. She was startled to see a shadow in the doorway. A man stepped forward.

“Relax, it’s just us,” Oliver said. Chloe stood beside him.

“I’m really not in the mood for this,” she replied. She dropped her keys and the blond billionaire picked them up, unlocking the door and following her inside. They walked with her to her apartment. He unlocked her door and she entered, flopping down on the couch.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” Chloe said, as the couple sat beside her. “Your cellphone was switched off.”

“I know. I turned it off when I had dinner with Clark.”

Her cousin frowned. “You had dinner with Clark?”

Lois shook her head. “Is there an echo in here? I just said that.”

“When I called Bob at the Planet, he told me you went out with Lex.” Bob was one of the security guards who had been at the paper for practically forever. He was a nice old codger who looked out for the staff. 

“I did. It’s a long story, but yeah, Lex took me to this little restaurant only he was rude to the staff and I didn’t like it. So I walked out on him and I was on my way back here when I ran into Clark. He treated me to a hamburger.”

Chloe looked a little alarmed. “You walked out on Lex?”

There she went again, basically repeating what Lois had said. Was it such a rare event that it bore repeating?

Of course, when Lex had confronted her in her office, at no time had she heard an apology for his behaviour. What an ass, she thought wearily. 

“Next time, Lois, you might want to keep your cellphone on,” Oliver advised. “Especially after we heard Bruno Mannheim attacked you.”

“What? Was there some post on a website or something? Dub dub dub dot intergang dot com?”

“Very funny, Lo.”

She huffed. “Actually, I don’t find this amusing at all.”

“Neither do we,” Oliver told her. 

“Lo, we just want to know you’re being safe.”

“Hey, I didn’t call up Mannheim and invite him to harass me in the middle of the street, now did I?”

“Still, with these stories you’re doing on Intergang …”

“I’m not exactly sure what I have on them yet.”

“Well, then you might find this interesting,” Oliver told her. “Some of my contacts have told me that someone has been buying up real estate in one particular area of Suicide Slum. Have a guess as to who’s been driving up the crime rate there.”

“Intergang. Great.”

“That’s one of the things I was calling to tell you about,” Chloe told her. “Clark’s apartment building is smack bang in the middle of it.”

“So, who is this mystery developer?” she asked, as if she didn’t know.

“It’s still on the hush-hush, but word is, it’s Lex. Part of a huge development he’s planning for that area of town.”

Why was she not surprised?


	15. Cool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are a little frosty between Clark and Lois, meanwhile Clark finds out his building has been sold and Lois welcomes her father home.

Clark was dressing for work at the Planet when he heard a knock on his door. He went to answer it, fixing his shirt collar, peering through the peephole. He frowned, wondering what his landlord wanted.

He opened the door and looked out at Floyd.

“Ah, Kent,” he said. “Sorry to call in on you so early.”

Floyd was a rotund man in his late fifties. He owned and managed the building, living in an apartment on the first floor. Clark often wondered how the man was able to climb the stairs, since he was so obese. It couldn’t be healthy, he thought, using his x-ray vision to check the man’s heart. 

“I was just getting ready for work,” Clark told him.

His landlord nodded. “Yes, heard you were working at the Planet now.”

“I’m only an intern.”

Floyd waved his hand, clearly not interested in the gory details. 

“I’m telling all the tenants today. The building has been sold to a developer. You have ninety days.”

Clark frowned at him. “Ninety days? For what?”

“To find a new place to live.”

He stared at his landlord, aghast.

“What? That can’t be legal!”

“Sorry, Kent. Had an offer I couldn’t turn down. All the buildings on the block have been sold.”

“To whom? I mean, what developer?”

Floyd shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t care.” He turned away, moving to the next apartment. Clark heard him knocking on the door. 

Looked like he would have to do some research at the Planet. It couldn’t possibly be legal to kick someone out without having first given them notice the building was about to be sold. 

He finished dressing and locked up, moving quickly past Floyd who was at the door of apartment twenty-five, giving the same speech to the old lady. She was crying, asking where she was supposed to go. 

Clark left the building, glancing over at the other tenement. Jackson wasn’t sitting on the steps as usual. He wondered if the old man had been served with a similar eviction notice. There were at least a hundred apartments affected, five on each floor, judging by his own building, ten floors each. A hundred people, or more, out of a home in three months. 

The bus driver who picked him up greeted him with a smile. The lady driver was a good friend of Benny’s, so Clark asked after him.

“He’s doing much better,” she said. 

Clark smiled back. “That’s great.”

He’d gone to the hospital a couple of days after Benny had been hurt and took flowers. He hadn’t been the only one. Many of his fellow passengers had left ‘Get Well’ cards and flowers. 

While he was just an intern, he was still expected to attend staff meetings and headed to the boardroom on the seventh floor. Perry had clearly just started the meeting as he just pointed to an empty seat next to Lois.

“Now, Rodriguez, where are you at on the mayor’s proposal?”

Clark sat down and glanced at Lois. She seemed to be concentrating on what the other reporter was saying as she didn’t even spare him a return glance. She had been cool, even a little standoffish with him in the past few days, ever since he’d kissed her and left her standing on the sidewalk. Someone had picked the wrong time to try to break into a jeweller’s store. 

She hadn’t said anything to him the next day, not even demanding an explanation, which she was entitled to, not that Clark had been able to prepare any kind of excuse. He guessed that meant he was in pretty deep crud with her. The one thing he’d learned about Lois in the short time they’d known each other was when she was pissed off at someone they tended to get the silent treatment. Still, how was he supposed to know some idiot would decide at that moment to commit a crime?

The meeting dragged for an hour, then as soon as it was over, Lois leapt up and left the room. Clark started after her, his way blocked by his best friend.

“Wow, what did you do?” Chloe asked. 

“Nothing, that’s the trouble.”

“Uh-huh.” She pulled him aside. “Come to my office when you have a sec.”

“I’ve got time now.”

“As good a time as any,” she said, then eyed Lex who was approaching them at a fast walk.

“Kent,” he called.

“Uh-oh,” Chloe murmured. 

“I’ll see you in a bit,” Clark murmured back, then schooled his features into a neutral expression. “Mr Luthor?”

Lex showed irritation for a split second, then his own expression became curiously bland.

“Lex, please,” he said.

Clark shrugged affably. “Sure, Lex.”

“Walk with me.”

He joined the bald man and they began walking back to his office.

“I was wondering if you’d considered my offer.”

“About the farm?”

Lex nodded. “I’m sure you need the money, what with your college tuition and other things.”

Clark hesitated. It was an odd thing for Lex to say. He wondered how much Lex actually knew about his finances. While they weren’t considerable, they would be enough for college classes and living expenses while the wages he received through the internship would have just paid his rent. On the tenement at least. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do when the three months were up. He’d considered the farm, but the last thing he wanted was to get caught running or flying back and forth from the farm every time he wanted to patrol, and commuting back and forth to work was out of the question.

Nor was he sure how long the internship would last. He knew Perry had done him a huge favour by taking him on as an intern and these things were usually not much longer than about six months, if he was lucky. 

Lex was clearly waiting for an answer. Clark bit his lip.

“Thank you for the offer, but I’m going to turn it down. I appreciate it and I’m sure you had plans for the land, but I just can’t sell it. It’s all I have left of my parents.”

“Are you certain, Clark? I was offering you double what the property is worth. You’ll never have a better offer.”

“Why is it so important to you?” Clark asked, dreading the answer.

“It’s as you said. I had plans for the land.”

Why did he have the feeling that wasn’t the right answer?

Lex paused at the doorway of his office. 

“I really think you should reconsider,” he said.

Damn the man was persistent. Clark shook his head stubbornly.

“I’m sorry. I don’t want to sell.”

The bald billionaire seemed to accept the answer on the surface but Clark saw a small tic in his jaw. Lex was inwardly seething. 

Just what did the man really want the land for? Was it possible he knew about the ship?

Clark watched him enter his office and turned away, heading quickly to Chloe’s office. She greeted him with a smile.

“What did his royal baldness want?” she asked cynically.

“The farm.” She opened her mouth to say something and he cut her off at the pass. “I told him I wasn’t interested in selling. I can’t help but wonder why he’s so interested in buying it.”

“Well, this is just a theory, mind you, but I’ve been doing some research on the problem. Did you ever wonder why every other place in Smallville was a target for meteor freaks but the farm was never touched?”

Clark frowned at her. That couldn’t be right. 

“What about Tina? The girl obsessed with Lana?”

Tina Greer had been born with soft-bone disease. The same age as Clark, she had fallen into a ravine during the meteor shower and when she’d been found she seemed to be cured of the disease. Then when they were both freshmen in high school, Clark had discovered that Tina was capable of morphing into anyone she chose. She’d used that ability to rob the Smallville Savings and Loan, then tried to take over Lana’s life.

Clark had been the one person standing in her way. 

“She attacked you when you were living with Nell.”

Well, that was true, Clark thought. 

“O-o-okay. But surely …”

“I’ve recorded every incident. There were no meteor rocks ever found on the farm, at least, not within a hundred yard radius and it all centres on the storm cellar.”

“Where I keep the …”

“Exactly.”

“You think it’s giving off some kind of protective shield?”

“It’s possible,” she replied.

Clark shook his head. He didn’t buy it. There had to be some other explanation. He scratched the skin above his upper lip. 

“Uh, so did you find anything?”

His friend nodded. “Oliver has a few contacts at Luthorcorp. About five years ago Lionel spent a ton of money on searching for various places around the world with strange symbols. Rather like the ones Jor-El showed you. According to our sources, he was doing everything within his power and resources to find a cure for his terminal liver disease and he hoped that what was in those locations would be the key to it.”

“How would he have known about the symbols?” Clark asked.

“How much do you know about the Kawatche caves?”

Clark was puzzled. He’d heard about the Kawatche tribe as it was a part of the local area, but he had never heard anything about caves. 

“What caves?”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot. That was around the same time Nell got married and moved you guys to the city. Well, Lionel was building an office park in Smallville, around the same area where the local Kawatche tribe believed some ancient caves were buried. The tribe’s leader is a professor at Central Kansas. He’d been searching for years for some ancient paintings and was never able to find them, but when Lionel began construction it caused a weakening in the subsoil and it collapsed, revealing the caves’ inner sanctum.”

“What does this have to do with the symbols?”

“There were various symbols on the wall. Similar to the ones you drew. Lionel, and Lex, brought in linguistics experts from all over the world but they could never decipher them. I could show you pictures but the best source of information is the professor himself. His name is Joseph Willowbrook.”

She wrote down a number on a slip of paper and handed it to him. 

“You might want to give him a call at the university first.”

Clark nodded. “Do you think Lionel might have found something?”

“If he did it was too late to stop the disease,” she said. “But there’s a good chance Lex might have what you’re looking for.”

Damn, he thought. It hadn’t occurred to him when Jor-El had told him about the artifacts that there was a good chance Lex had them already. Then again, he had the key to the ship locked away in his vault. 

Chloe handed him her notes and the locations she had managed to come up with in her search.

“Thanks Chloe. I owe you one.”

“Yeah,” she snorted. “One day I might just collect too.”

He snickered at her. “Didn’t I just help you rescue Lois’ dad?”

“Okay, fine. Consider that a pro-bono.”

Still smiling, Clark went down to the bullpen and started looking up information on the Kawatche and Professor Willowbrook. He hadn’t forgotten his earlier plan to try to find out more about the mystery developer who had suddenly bought his building, but this was more important.

Lois passed by his desk but didn’t speak to him. She went into the supply room, then came out with a box of pencils. Clark frowned at her. It seemed like a flimsy excuse for her to come down since he was sure there was a small supply room on her floor. She paused by his desk to glance at his computer.

“Adoptions?” She snorted. “Been there, done that. Old news.”

He didn’t even glance at her. “There are no old stories, Lois, just …”

“New angles,” she finished.

“Do you always finish people’s thoughts?” he accused, looking up at her.

She didn’t reply to that. He sighed and turned back to his computer. He’d pretended to be working on a story about adoption, just to cover himself.

“I thought you weren’t talking to me,” he murmured.

“I’m not,” she said, leaning across his desk to make a grab for the notebook where he’d placed the information from Chloe. He frowned at her.

“What are you doing?”

“Perry assigned me to you so I’m just seeing what you’re working on.”

He put his hand on the book firmly.

“If you want to know, just ask.”

“Fine,” she said, clearly annoyed. “But let’s not forget, Kent, you’re an intern. You take your cue from me.”

“Well, that would help if you had actually said two words to me since the other night.”

Lois huffed and began walking away. Clark quickly stood up and pursued her.

“What’s going on, Lois?”

“Nothing.”

He growled in annoyance. “You know, I don’t get you. I mean, I thought we had a good time the other night and now suddenly it’s like you’re cold as ice. One minute you’re up, the next minute you’re down.”

“Yeah? Well I don’t get you. I mean, one minute you’re there, the next minute you’re not. I’ve been down here a few times in the past few days and it’s like you suddenly disappear without a word to anyone!”

“I didn’t realise I had to file an itinerary!” 

Lois glowered at him, then huffed and turned away, her long hair flying behind her as she ran up the stairs. Clark let her go, shaking his head, walking back to his desk to resume his research. Fine, he thought. If she wants to be that way, then so be it. He didn’t need this.

***

Lois fumed as she returned to her office and began packing her briefcase, shoving things haphazardly into the bag. Perry had given her the rest of the day off as her father’s plane would be getting in about now. He had flown into DC on a marine transport two days earlier to brief his bosses there and was taking a commercial flight to Metropolis. 

She couldn’t wait to see him. After everything that had happened in Afghanistan, she had been so afraid she would lose him that she had spent a lot of time thinking about what she could have lost. 

She was still mad at Clark. The night she’d had dinner with him, after Chloe and Oliver had left, she had been awake half the night trying to figure him out. What bothered her was that the next morning there had been a story in the Daily Planet of yet another incident stopped by the Guardian. It had happened around the same time as Clark had left her at the newspaper building, yet he hadn’t covered the story. 

Something just didn’t add up and she couldn’t figure out what it was.

She supposed part of it was she was gun-shy. In many ways she worried about liking Clark too much. Especially with the way Lex was so possessive of her. He had no right to be, since they weren’t actually dating. Still, from the bald man’s reaction to her having dinner with Clark after she’d walked out on him was very telling. If she actually did start dating Clark, seriously dating him, it might put him in Lex’s crosshairs.

The things Chloe and Oliver had told her about the development concerned her as well. She had been doing some in-depth research and realised they were right about the escalating crime rate. There had been more muggings in the past year, despite the Guardian’s presence, not to mention the assaults, the rapes, the homicides. Lois had drawn a diagram on a map of all the hot spots, then cross-matched it with the development plan and it had confirmed everything. 

She suspected that the crime rate had escalated to drive the property prices down. While there wasn’t enough evidence to accuse anyone of anything, it still looked suspicious. 

She shut down her computer and left her office, starting for the stairs. At the first floor, she paused, wondering if she should go back down to the bullpen and say something to Clark. He had been somewhat defensive over the papers on his desk, but then again, she hadn’t exactly been acting friendly toward him the past few days either. It just bothered her that there was something he was hiding from her. 

Lois drove to the airport, still thinking about the situation. She didn’t know what she was going to do. On the one hand, she really liked Clark, and could see herself falling in love with him. On the other hand, he could be secretive and mysterious and she was the type of person who just had to solve the mystery. She couldn’t let matters lie. 

He’d opened up to her about a lot of things. Especially the other night. His past was painful, but for all that, he’d been lucky enough to be raised by someone like Nell, who had done so with love. Sure, he could be melancholy. No one who had been through so much loss as he had could go through those experiences and not be, unless they had no feelings at all. 

She managed to park the car and make her way to the arrivals just in time as the passengers began coming through. She saw her father in his dress uniform, talking with a fellow passenger. Lois waved.

“Daddy!”

Her father’s face lit up in a huge grin. He nodded to the woman he’d been talking to and strode purposefully toward her. Lois ran to him and wrapped her arms around him in a huge hug. 

“Daddy, I’m so glad you’re back safe.”

“Lo,” he replied with a sigh, a gentle hand brushing over her long hair. 

She pulled back a little to get a good look at him. She could see bruises on his face, although they had started to turn yellow. 

“The car’s just outside Daddy,” Lois told him. She’d already spoken with him on the phone the minute he’d got into Washington and said she would take a couple of days off. 

“Let me get my bag sweetheart,” he answered. 

Still with her arm around his waist, she walked with him to the baggage carousel and waited while he grabbed his bag. It was just a small duffel bag, not a suitcase. Not wanting to spoil the mood with questions, Lois ignored it. 

The traffic was light on the way back into the city and she kept up a steady stream of chatter with her father, talking about general things rather than asking him about his ordeal. By the time she reached her apartment she was talked out.

“I hear from Chloe you’ve started dating a young man who works at the Planet,” her father said as he followed her up to her apartment. “An intern, I believe?”

“Well, we’re not … exactly,” she said.

The general frowned. “What does that mean?”

“I’ve only gone to the movies with him and he treated me to dinner the other night. It’s not exactly dating.”

“Why not? Lo, do you think I wouldn’t approve of this young man?”

“No, Daddy. I think you’d like him very much actually. I mean, he’s sweet and kind and I do like him, it’s just … there’s this … I don’t know what it is exactly.”

Oh, she knew that look, Lois thought as her father put his bag down beside the couch and gazed at her. It was the ‘I’m about to say something you might not want to hear but I’m going to say it anyway’ look.

“Lo, if there is one thing I’ve learned from the past few weeks, it’s that you can’t let a little thing stop you from taking a chance.” He sat down on the couch while she went to switch the coffee on to heat up. 

She sat opposite him.

“You know, your mother and I … we almost didn’t get married.”

She frowned at him. 

“What do you mean?”

“I was just starting my army career and your mother wasn’t sure she could live with the idea of me going off to fight wars. She once told me she didn’t want to be a war widow.”

He looked grieved for a moment and she knew he was thinking about her mother. 

“Her father gave her some good advice. He told her that caring for someone meant caring in spite of their flaws. She realised that she loved me enough to accept the fact that sometimes I would be gone for weeks or months at a time.”

“This is a lot more than a flaw.”

“In what way?”

“I … I don’t know, exactly.”

“Have you tried talking to him about it?”

“That’s the thing, Daddy. We’ve only gone out a couple of times. I’m not even sure there’s a reason to ask.”

“Well, in my opinion, if something is bothering you this much, then there’s more than enough reason. Is he married?”

“Widowed. His wife and daughter were killed in a car crash three years ago.”

Sam’s face crinkled in sympathy. “That must be rough.”

She nodded. “His adopted parents died when he was ten. I don’t know Daddy. I mean, maybe I just feel sorry for him.”

He shook his head. “I know you, Lo. You wouldn’t be this upset over a man you feel sympathy for.”

Her father was right, she thought as she got up to make the coffee. She was probably over-analysing things. The truth was, it felt good being around Clark. It wasn’t just that he made her laugh. He made her feel something she had never felt before. 

Lois had never had issues with her confidence, but somehow just being around Clark made her feel like she mattered. It sounded kind of strange, but it felt sometimes like he made her day better just by being there. It was like she’d heard on a television program she’d seen when she was a teenager. It had first aired when she was little but had been in syndication since then. 

A character, a woman, had been talking about the man she would fall in love with.

“I wanna love someone so much that the thought of living without him would be too much to bear. I wanna breathe him. I want the scent of him to make me smile. I wanna look into his eyes and know that I'm alive.”

Clark was all those things, and more. There were moments when they’d been sitting together, working on a story, where she would just look at him and it felt like her heart stopped beating for a second. He’d look at her with those deep green eyes and she could see herself reflected in them. His expression would practically be a mirror of hers, like the world had disappeared and it was just the two of them.

She was kidding herself. She wasn’t falling in love with Clark. She was already in love with him. 

Her father came to the kitchen to see what was taking so long. He had a knowing smile on his face.

“I know that look, Lo. It’s the same look I used to get when I thought about your mother.”

Lois looked at her father.

“You really loved Mom, didn’t you?”

He nodded. “Your mother meant the world to me. Don’t get me wrong, Lo. It wasn’t easy, for either of us. There were fights, although we were always careful not to fight in front of you girls. It hurt her when I put my career before my family and if I had to do it all over again, I would choose you. Lois, sweetheart, losing your mother was the hardest thing I ever had to experience, harder than even going off to battle, and that’s saying a lot. I’m sorry if that meant I neglected you girls, especially when you needed me.”

“I guess Lucy and I never really understood what it was like for you, but I do now.” She fought back tears. “I was so scared I was going to lose you. I don’t think I could bear losing you too.”

He wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m here, sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere.”

She frowned. He’d packed so light, so clearly he wasn’t planning on sticking around. 

He pulled away, glancing over at the couch.

“I wasn’t going to say anything until it was all finalised, but while I was in Washington talking with the brass, I told them I was planning on retiring.”

She stared at him. “Daddy?”

“They offered me another post and I turned it down. I want to spend more time with my girls.” He grinned. “So, know of anyone who would take on an old warhorse like me?”

She laughed. “Oh Daddy, I love you!”

“I love you too,” he said, chuckling. 

“So what are you planning?”

“Well, Lucy asked me to stay with her for a few days so I’ll go down on the train in a couple of days. I told her I wanted to spend some time with my Little Lo first.”

Lois crinkled her nose. He’d called her that nickname since she was a tot and it had just stuck. 

She finished making the coffee and sat down in the chair, while her father resumed his seat on the couch. 

“Now, tell me more about this young man of yours. What’s the real problem?”

“It’s … I don’t know. I mean, like I said, he’s sweet and kind and I like him a lot, but there’s something he’s not telling me.”

“Lo, if there’s one thing I do know, it’s that sometimes there are things you cannot share with even the ones you love. Whatever he’s hiding, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is, do you think this is something you can live with?”

“I don’t know. That’s the problem. And it’s not just that. It’s … well, there’s this other guy who has been trying to get me to go out with him and he acts like … like he owns me. I hate it, but he doesn’t seem to want to take no for an answer. I’m afraid he might use his influence to hurt Clark.”

“Clark?”

She nodded. “Clark Kent.”

“Oh, the young man. Chloe didn’t tell me his name. Who’s the other man?”

“Lex Luthor.”

He frowned. “As in your boss?” He took a deep breath. “Lo, there’s something you should know. The brass are conducting an investigation into what happened in Afghanistan and they don’t believe that what initially happened was an accident.”

“I know, Daddy. I mean, I’m not sure I can prove it, but I think it was Lex. A friend of Chloe’s told her that Lex planned it, hoping to get close to me.”

He looked thoughtful. “From what I’ve heard about Lex Luthor, it doesn’t surprise me. The man is manipulative and ruthless. What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know,” she sighed. “I don’t want him to take it out on Clark. Especially because of …”

“Because of the way you feel about Clark?”

She nodded. “I’m worried that Lex might do something drastic, like fire Clark. Or worse.”

“There have been rumours for years about things that go on in that company. I’m not surprised Lex took over the Daily Planet. That way he can ensure the truth doesn’t get out.”

“Either that or he can destroy the paper,” Lois mused. “I know of a few people who refused to stay on when Lex took over as publisher. They as much as said Lex was a snake in the grass and they would rather be on unemployment than work for him. I’m beginning to get why they did that.”

“I can make a few calls,” her father said. “It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to think that Lex obtained the Planet by less than honest means.” He smiled. “As for Clark, I don’t think you should worry too much about what Lex might do to him. Any man who can handle you can handle anything else that might be thrown at him.”

Lois grinned at her father. “Why Daddy, are you trying to say I’m a handful?”

“Who me?” he laughed.


	16. Willowbrook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark goes to Smallville to interview Professor Willowbrook. Lois decides there's no time like the present to make up with Clark.

Clark was surprised the next day when Chloe called him in the bullpen.

“Clarkbar, heads up. You’ve got a visitor.”

“Who?” he asked.

“Uncle Sam.”

He frowned. She didn’t mean what he thought she meant, did she?

“Uh, you mean, as in …”

“The general.”

He swallowed, his hearing picking up the rumble of the general’s voice as he spoke to one of the reporters.

“I see him. Thanks Chloe.”

He swallowed again, watching as the reporter pointed him out, trying to gauge the general’s mood. The older man walked with a purposeful stride, his posture erect, showing his military training.

“Mr Kent?”

The man’s voice was deep, a little gruff and he spoke in a tone that was commanding, clearly the way he was used to speaking to his men. 

“Uh, yes sir?”

“I’m …”

“I know who you are, sir. Lois’ father.”

The man smiled, which immediately had Clark feeling a little disconcerted. From what he’d heard about General Sam Lane he was not a man who smiled often. He was acting friendly toward Clark which was worrying.

“I was hoping we might have a little chat. That is, if I’m not interrupting you in your work.”

The general peered interestedly at his monitor. Clark had spent the morning researching the developer who had bought his building. He’d talked to Perry about it who had told him if he could find a human interest angle, he could write the story. 

“Oh, uh, no, you’re not interrupting.”

“Good. How about I buy you a cup of coffee down at Rosie’s café?”

Clark smiled, feeling a little easier. If the general was offering to buy him coffee, he didn’t think it could be too bad. 

“That would be great sir.” He stood up, grabbing his coat from the back of his chair, although he was supposed to use the coat hook which stood near the stairs.

He followed the older man up the stairs and out the door to the street. Sam Lane pointed to the café about a block from the Daily Planet and they began walking casually.

“I thought Lois was taking a couple of days off,” he said.

The general nodded. “She is. I just told her I wanted to run some errands, go see a couple of people. I just didn’t tell her I was coming to see you.”

Clark frowned at him. “Uh, what exactly has Lois told you about me?”

“Enough to know that you care about her, probably as much as she cares about you.”

They entered the café and the general ordered coffees. Clark found a seat by the window and tried to relax, wondering what Lois’ father wanted to talk to him about.

“You know,” the general began as he sat down, “I asked a friend of mine in the NSA to do a little research on you. You know what he found?”

Clark grimaced, waiting for the other man to tell him.

“Nothing,” Sam continued. “Not even a parking ticket.”

“I don’t drive,” Clark told him. “I had a truck in Smallville, when …”

Sam raised his hand. “Son, you don’t need to explain. What my friend did tell me was that Jonathan and Martha Kent were fine, upstanding people and real pillars of the community. It sounds to me like they raised you right.”

Clark nodded. “They did.”

“They died when you were ten?”

“Yes sir.”

“Clark, you don’t need to call me sir. You can call me Sam, or Mr Lane, if you prefer.”

He nodded again. The waitress brought over their coffees. 

“So who raised you after that?”

“A friend of the family. Nell Potter. My grandfather, my Mom’s father, couldn’t take me in, so she did. She was good to me.”

“I see,” Sam said, sipping his coffee. “Why couldn’t your grandfather raise you?”

“I guess the thought of raising a ten-year-old was too much for him. It’s not his fault. I just … I guess when you get to a certain age, you’re a bit past raising kids.”

“Still, Lois tells me you’re a remarkable young man.”

Clark stared at him. “She said that?”

“I know my daughter, son. She doesn’t hold back on the praise when it’s earned. Still, I couldn’t help but notice she seemed to be a little upset with you when we talked yesterday.”

Clark started to reply but the older man held up his hand.

“Clark, I’ve not been the best of fathers. I’m well aware of my shortcomings when it comes to my daughters. The truth is, I chose my career over my family and that was a mistake. When my Ella died, I couldn’t be around Lois, or Lucy, because they reminded me so much of my wife. Because of that, Lois has shied away from relationships. Maybe I don’t know everything about women, but I’m guessing the reason she’s upset with you is she’s afraid.”

“Of what, sir?”

“Of her feelings, I suppose. Lois is a lot like me. She isn’t one to wear her heart on her sleeve.”

“I think there’s a lot more to it than that,” Clark said. After all, Lois had implied as much. His sudden disappearances were bound to be noticed, especially by her. She hadn’t earned her reputation as an investigative reporter for her spelling prowess, or lack thereof. 

“She did say there was something you weren’t telling her. Clark, I can see that you’re an honest man, and if anyone recognises the reason for keeping secrets, it’s me. I’ve had to keep my share from my family, knowing it was a matter of national security. I’ve talked to Lois about this and I’m going to tell you the same thing I told her. Don’t let this, whatever it is, come between you. I’m not saying you have to tell her your secrets. I’m saying that if you care about her, you’ll find a way to deal with it.”

Clark stared at the man. The general’s support was unexpected, to say the least, but it seemed they had a lot in common.

“Daddy!”

The general stared in surprise, a sheepish look on his face as he met his daughter’s scowl.

“I thought you were going to see someone about a job.”

“Did I say that?” he asked.

Lois was clearly thinking about it for a second, then her scowl returned.

“Don’t split hairs, Daddy. You didn’t tell me you were going to the Daily Planet. I found out from Chloe.”

“Tattletale,” the general murmured.

Clark chuckled, then quickly picked up his coffee cup in an attempt to hide the chuckle as Lois turned her glare on him. 

“Don’t you have a job to do, Smallville?”

“Coffee break, Lois.”

She made a face at him. “Coffee break’s over. Chop chop!”

The general laughed at his daughter as Clark stood up hurriedly.

“Clark, I hear from Lois you know how to cook. Do me a favour and rescue me from another night of take-out.”

“Daddy!” Lois glared at her father in outrage.

Clark knew what the older man was doing. He was sure the general was going to find a way to make a discreet exit so Clark could talk to Lois alone. 

“I’d like that,” he replied.

“Good. We’ll see you at six then.”

Clark returned to work to find a message on his desk. Joseph Willowbrook had returned his call and was willing to see him that afternoon. He borrowed one of the cars from the Daily Planet pool and drove to the university.

Central Kansas A&M was a small university campus compared to Metropolis University. Before Lana had become pregnant, Clark had considered enrolling at the campus as he’d thought about moving back to the farm after he’d graduated high school, but Lana hadn’t wanted to leave the city. She had herself enrolled at Met U and didn’t like the idea of commuting. 

Of course, when she’d fallen pregnant and they’d got married, Clark had put his foot down and told her he wanted to go back to Smallville. It had been one of their first arguments as a married couple. 

“Why would you want to go back there?” she asked, scowling at him.

“Because that’s where the farm is. We can live there and we wouldn’t have to worry about trying to find money to pay rent.”

“Half the town’s a ghost town,” she argued. “And I don’t want to live at the farm.”

“It’s what my parents would want.” He tried to explain to her about wanting to keep an eye on the farm, especially with the ship there, but she didn’t want to hear it.

The argument went around in circles for about a half hour, then Lana relented, sighing heavily.

“All right. I’ll compromise. We can move back to Nell’s old place, and you can keep an eye on the farm from there. It’s only a mile away, Clark.” She brushed her hand over his cheek and looked up at him with huge brown eyes. “Please?”

Of course, he had never been able to say no to her. He’d managed to get a job in town, although it was mostly handyman work, while Lana spent the next few months fixing up the house and getting the nursery ready for the baby. 

Clark hadn’t been back to the house since Lana’s death. Nell hadn’t had the heart to sell it either, so she’d rented it out to a couple when Clark had moved back to the city. He had run back and forth once a week to the farm, but hadn’t been in town at all.

As he neared the township, Clark sighed. He didn’t think he would miss Smallville, not after everything that had happened, but he was missing it more and more. The town had changed in the past three years. The fertiliser plant had gone but in its place was a research facility, owned, of course, by Lex. According to the prospectus, the facility, which now employed nearly five thousand people, a large percent of them locals, had been commissioned to study the environment and find ways to protect it from further damage, especially from the current ‘buzzword’: climate change. 

He wondered if there were any secret research projects going on inside the plant. After what Oliver had told him, and knowing Lex, it was more than likely.

He decided to make a small detour on his way to the university, which was about ten miles south of town. He was surprised to see a coffee shop in place of the old movie theatre. The last he’d heard, Lex had been planning on turning it into a parking facility. Both he and Lana had been worried when they’d heard Lex had bought the Talon from Nell. Yet the building had remained vacant for years.

Parking the car in the street, Clark went inside, looking around. The interior looked much the same as it had when it had been the movie theatre, although the décor was very different. He still remembered how he and Lana had protested when Nell had announced she was selling the theatre. Lana’s parents had met there and the place held a sentimental value. 

Clark had a vague memory of his fifth birthday. His parents had taken him to his first movie and bought him popcorn and milk duds, although his dad had eaten most of the popcorn. He couldn’t remember the movie, but he did remember holding his mother’s hand in the darkness and feeling his dad sitting next to him, ready to protect him from anything that might jump out at him. 

That had been the best birthday he could remember. 

“Sir? Can I help you, sir?”

Clark looked around, startled at the girl’s voice. She was staring at him, a confused look on her face.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I … I used to live here. In town, that is.”

She nodded politely. 

“How long has this place been here?”

“A couple of years, I think.”

“Mr Kent?”

Clark looked up and smiled politely at the sheriff, who was just about to walk out with a takeout cup of coffee.

“Sheriff Adams.”

“Haven’t seen you for a while.”

“Yeah, I live in the city now.”

The older woman nodded. “Place sure has changed last couple years. You still have that farm?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Was by there the other day.” She frowned. “Looked like somebody was poking around. Had a word with them. Told them they were trespassin’. Showed me some kind of permit.”

Clark stared at her. “What?”

She shrugged. “Guess he was from some kinda government agency. Somethin’ like that. Said somethin’ about pesticides. Wasn’t really payin’ much attention.”

“Uh, thank you for letting me know, sheriff. I’ll look into it.”

He watched her leave, then turned back to the counter. As he ordered, he asked the girl more about the coffee shop, learning that Lex had sold the building and it had been taken over by none other than Chloe’s father. Gabe Sullivan had been a senior manager at the Luthorcorp plant, but when Lex had decided to close down the fertiliser production, Chloe had suggested he buy the Talon and turn it into a coffee shop. Clark had to grin at that. Chloe and her coffee. 

He took his coffee to go and drove to the cemetery. He remembered Lana had gone to visit her parents’ graves frequently when she had been a child and he’d visited his parents’ graves a few times, but mostly it had just seemed a little morbid. 

He bent down and cleared some of the trash and weeds from the grave.

“Hi Mom, hi Dad. I know it’s been a while since I’ve been by. It’s just, well, it’s been kind of hard, to come back. It still hurts sometimes and I miss you guys. Nell tries and I love her, but she’s not you.”

He sighed, using a finger to trace the inscriptions. Jonathan Kent had been thirty-six years old when he died. Martha had been thirty-seven. He remembered his parents had teased each other about his mom being a year older than his dad.

“Anyway, I met someone. She’s amazing, Mom. I think you’d like her very much. She’s kind and compassionate and the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, next to you, Mom. She’s a reporter, at the Daily Planet. Oh, and she’s Chloe’s cousin. You’ve met Chloe. Well, sort of,” he said, lips twitching. Chloe had come by the cemetery once when he’d been visiting the graves. 

“Uh, well, we’re not exactly dating, but I … I want to. I mean, maybe it’s early, but I really think she could be the one, you know? Like you and dad were. I just … I don’t know if I’m ready to tell her my secret. I will one day, I guess. I mean, I know I really should tell her before we get in too deep and I will.”

“Well, I certainly hope so.”

Clark whirled, mouth open in shock.

***

Lois grinned at the look on his face. Stunned was a good look on him, she thought. He quickly dropped his gaze, making her wonder if he was about to drag his foot and give her an ‘aw shucks’ look.

He frowned at her instead.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were spending time with your dad?”

“I was. I mean, I am,” she replied. “He just wanted to go meet with a couple of people about a job.”

Clark looked puzzled. “A … job?” He'd clearly forgotten what she'd said to her father in the cafe.

She nodded. “He told me he’s retiring and planning on moving to Metropolis.”

“That must make you happy.”

“It does. So, anyway, I had some time to kill so I went to the Planet and they told me you were here. Well, in Smallville. So I plugged in to the car’s GPS and followed you here.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “GPS?”

She grinned unrepentantly. “What’s the point of having a general for a dad if he can’t help you out once in a while.”

“You know, some would call that stalking.”

She canted her head. “Like you can talk, Smallville.” Reminding him of the flowers he’d left for her.

He rolled his eyes. “Fine. Point.”

“Anyway, I came here because I owe you an apology.”

He looked surprised. “You’re apologising?”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “Yeah, don’t get used to it, Kent. It won’t happen very often.”

Clark sighed, glancing at his watch. “Okay, but I have somewhere I need to be.”

“CKU. I know. I saw your calendar. An interview with a Professor Willowbrook. I’m coming with you.”

“Lois …”

“Let’s face it, when it comes to interviews, you’re out of practice. Admit it, you need me.”

Clark sighed heavily. She wasn’t going to take no for an answer and by his expression he understood that.

“You drive me crazy,” he said.

She grinned and punched his shoulder. 

“I have it on good authority you like it when I drive you crazy.”

He snorted, but didn’t seem to have a comeback, walking back toward the road where he’d parked the car. Lois followed him. 

“So I’ll follow you in my car,” she told him as he unlocked the vehicle. “And don’t try to lead me around in circles, Smallville.” She held up her phone. “Like I said, I’m jacked in to the GPS on the car.”

“Perish the thought,” Clark grumbled.

Lois grinned, getting in her own car, which she’d parked behind his.

She’d had a little time to think about the things her father had said and had decided he was right. Maybe Clark did have secrets, but he had been open and honest with her about a lot of personal things so whatever it was, she had realised it wasn’t worth getting angry with him over. She was sure, given time for their relationship to develop, that Clark would eventually tell her what he was hiding. She just needed to let him do it when he was ready. Pushing would make things worse.

It had been the same for her mother. There had been missions her father had been sent on which had been classified, and no matter what, her mom hadn’t been allowed to know exactly what they entailed or how dangerous they might be. It was part of the job. The best thing her mother had done was be there for her father when he’d come home and helped him deal with it. 

While her father had clearly done his best to protect her and Lucy from the issues that would crop up between her parents now and again, Lois did remember a couple of times when she’d heard them fighting. Mostly it had been over her father’s next mission, but she knew there had been times when he’d seen so much death, especially when innocent people had been caught in a crossfire, and he’d been a bear to live with for a few weeks when he’d come home.

She did remember one quarrel where Ella had begged Sam not to go, but he’d gone anyway. She’d heard crying in the bedroom and had gone in, wrapping her little arms around her mother’s neck and snuggled in to her side. She’d been about four then. 

Something her father had said the night before had brought home to her just how much her mother had sacrificed.

“Your mother was the bravest person I ever knew,” he had said. 

“But you went off to fight wars, Daddy,” she’d said. 

He’d shaken his head. “That’s not bravery Lo. Getting to come home again, that’s luck. Your mother was the true hero in the family. The things she did to keep it together for you girls while I was gone …”

She was again struck by the love she saw in her father’s eyes. She’d once asked him why he didn’t go out and meet someone, but she understood now that Ella had been it for him. The love of his life. No other woman could ever replace her. 

It was so different from what Clark, and Chloe, had told her about Lana. She didn’t want to say that the woman had been self-centred, but in many ways, she did feel that. Clark had done things Lana’s way, even if it had made him unhappy. Lois didn’t want to be that kind of person. 

She smiled as she recalled what she’d overheard Clark saying in the cemetery. He thought she was ‘the one’. She had to admit she got a quiet thrill over knowing he thought of her that way. 

Clark was parking the Daily Planet car in the campus parking lot. Lois parked beside him and got out. She glanced down at her clothes. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, which truth be told, made her look like a teenager than a professional journalist, but she had left Metropolis in a bit of a hurry after deciding she really needed to talk to Clark.

“Listen, about tonight,” she said as she caught up with him. “You don’t have to … I mean, my father kind of ambushed you.”

“I liked him,” Clark replied. “And I don’t mind.”

“Well, let me warn you. Dad has a habit of testing my boyfriends.”

He raised his eyebrow at the term ‘boyfriend’ but didn’t comment further.

“What I meant to say is, he tests my feelings for them by making them do all these crazy things, like scrubbing the bathroom floor with a toothbrush. I mean, not that I’ve actually had that many boyfriends.” She snickered. “Sounds kind of dumb huh? I mean, I’m almost twenty-five years old and I can count the number of boyfriends I’ve had on one hand, but you, you’ve been married, and …” She sighed. Babbling again, she berated herself.

Clark grinned at her.

“I think you under-estimate your dad. And FYI? I don’t think it’s dumb that you haven’t had a lot of boyfriends. To me it just shows that you’re discerning.”

“Don’t you mean picky?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No, I don’t. You have integrity, Lois. That’s rare, especially these days. With Lana and I … well, it’s not like we jumped into bed with each other. I mean, we practically grew up together, but we still waited until we finished high school before we actually did anything.”

“It’s not like I’ve jumped into bed with random guys either,” she said. “I’ve actually only ever been, uh, intimate, with one. That wasn’t exactly fireworks either.”

“Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret, Lois. All those silly romance novels do is give you unreasonable expectations. Besides, I've always believed that intimacy isn’t just about what a couple do in bed. Just like romance isn’t something that only happens once a year.”

“Were your parents romantic?”

Clark nodded. “It sounds funny, but my mom used to say that romance was in the little things they did for each other. She used to love it when he would massage her feet at the end of a long day on the farm. To her, that was romance. I mean, who says it has to be about flowers and chocolate? Sometimes it’s just a look, or a touch that tells the other person that they’re the centre of your world.”

They’d stopped walking as Clark talked.

Lois felt a frisson of desire over her body as Clark looked at her. It was a look that suggested everything he’d just said. Like she was the centre of his world. She stared up at him, wishing he would kiss her.

Screw it, she thought. Why should I wait for him to make the first move?

She gently took his hand and pulled him closer. He had a slight smile on his face, a little uncertain, but that was okay. Standing on tiptoes, she closed the gap between them, tasting his lips. He slowly opened his mouth to her gentle invasion, his tongue darting forward to tangle with hers. It was unhurried. Sweet rather than passionate, but it made her want more. 

She felt his arms wrap around her, pulling her closer. The world disappeared around them as they continued to kiss, oblivious to the students watching them.

A sudden wolf whistle had them breaking apart. Lois felt heat in her cheeks and ducked her head. Clark grinned down at her, then took her hand.

“Come on,” he said quietly. “Let’s go meet Professor Willowbrook.”

They walked up the steps into the building, following the corridor to the professor’s office. Clark glanced at her, then knocked on the door. 

“Yes?” a voice said from inside.

“Professor. It’s Clark Kent.”

The door opened and a man in his late sixties peered out. He was a good-looking man with smooth, olive skin and longish white hair pulled back into a ponytail. He seemed surprised to see her with Clark.

“Mr Kent? I thought you were coming alone?”

“Uh, this is Lois Lane. She works with me at the Planet.”

“Oh well, you’d best come in.” He turned his back on them and picked up a pile of books from a worn couch which was covered in a rug, placing them on a shelf nearby. Lois sat down. For an old couch it was surprisingly comfortable. 

“So, you said in your email you wanted to talk to me about the Kawatche caves?” the professor prompted.

His voice was gruff with age, but he had a friendly manner. Clark nodded at the man’s enquiry.

“Yes sir. A friend of mine was telling me about the caves and the pictures on the walls. I was hoping you could tell me more about them.”

Lois quietly observed as Joseph pulled a heavy book from his shelf and opened it to show Clark what appeared to be pictographs. She had the feeling this had less to do with a story and more to do with Clark’s past but wisely chose not to mention it.

She looked at one of the pictographs – what appeared to be a two-headed monster.

“What is that?” she asked. Clark glanced at her and nodded.

“That is Naman and Sageeth,” Joseph explained. “There is a legend among my people. Naman is a man who fell from the sky. Sageeth was his brother, his spiritual brother, that is.”

“What happens to them in the legend?” Clark asked.

“They become enemies, destined to fight.”

“Do you know who this Naman is?” Lois said.

“No,” the older man said, shaking his head. “I have never met him. But I believe there is someone out there who may be Naman.”

“Who?” Clark asked curiously.

“I believe he is called The Guardian.”

Lois heard Clark’s sharp intake of breath. She glanced at him and he seemed pale.

“Can you tell us more about this legend?” she asked, wanting to give Clark time to collect his thoughts. He was leafing through the book, studying the pictographs.

“Many centuries ago a man came to us from the stars and brought with him strange green stones. He fell in love with the mother of the Kawatche people but he could not stay. Before he left he told us another would come in a rain of fire and would have the strength of ten men.”

“But you’ve never met the Guardian,” she said. “How do you know he’s Naman?”

“I remember when the meteors came, Miss Lane.”

“You’re saying the rain of fire was the meteor shower?”

Joseph nodded. “Yes.”

“But I still don’t see how the Guardian could be this Naman.”

“You have written stories about him yourself, Miss Lane. They speak of a man who is stronger than a normal man, able to move across the city within minutes.”

That was true, she thought. Clark seemed to be completely absorbed in the book. 

She got up from the couch and wandered over to look at the books on the shelf while Joseph began pointing out some sections of the book. She noticed a photograph on one of the shelves. A girl with long, black hair and a pretty face. She wore what looked to be a Native American style necklace.

She picked up the framed photo. “She’s pretty.”

Joseph looked up. Lois couldn’t help noticing a hint of sadness in his eyes.

“My grand-daughter, Kyla. She died. Eight years ago.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Was it sudden?” she asked.

Joseph nodded. “Thank you. I’m not sure what it is you’re looking for, Mr Kent, but I will lend you the book.”

“Thank you, sir. That would help a lot.”

Clark rose from the couch and placed his hand on Lois’ back, gently guiding her toward the door. He had the book under his arm. Joseph smiled at him.

“Mr Kent, you’re welcome to stop by my office again if you have any more questions.”

Clark nodded. “Thanks again, professor.”

Lois stood out in the corridor as the door gently closed behind them. 

“Well, that was interesting,” she said.

“It’s just a story, Lois,” Clark replied. 

Maybe it was, but she had seen the look on Clark’s face. Something about the legend of Naman had disturbed him. 

As they returned to their cars she turned to him.

“So, tonight?”

He nodded. “I’ll see you at six, okay?”

“Okay,” she smiled.

Her father was on the couch watching something on television when she arrived home.

“What are you watching?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Wish I knew. How did things go in Smallville?”

“It went okay, I think. I guess Clark and I still have a lot to talk about, but … he’s still coming over for dinner.”

“Great,” Sam smiled. 

She sat down at the table and opened up her laptop.

“I was just going to do a bit of research,” she told her father.

“Don’t mind me, Lo.”

Lois accessed the digital archives for the Planet and looked up the professor. She found an article about him. Eight years earlier he had been accused of murder when a construction worker had been killed at the site of the Luthorcorp office park. Joseph had been cleared, however, when the coroner had ruled it an accidental death, his report stating that it looked like the worker had been attacked by a dog.

There was another story, this time concerning the man’s grand-daughter, Kyla, a student at Granville High. It seemed Kyla had been stabbed; not by a knife, but by glass, apparently, as the coroner had found glass in the wound. What was stranger still was that there had been reports of a white wolf in the area. Wolves hadn’t been seen in Kansas for decades. The last known sighting had been Lionel Luthor, who had told police the wolf had jumped through a second-storey window of the Luthor mansion just outside of Smallville. The wolf’s pelt had been cut to ribbons. 

She’d always known Smallville was weird, but this … 

As she closed the laptop, she stared into space, wondering if there was some kind of connection to Clark’s secret.


	17. Cupid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The General plays Cupid.

Clark didn’t know why he was so nervous as he walked up the stairs to Lois’ apartment. It wasn’t facing her father. Maybe it was the fact that they’d pretty much declared their intentions toward each other that afternoon. They were nowhere near ready to dive into a fully committed relationship. Dating was a better word for it. Still, he had what he could only call butterflies in his stomach.

He’d dropped into Nell’s shop to get a bouquet of lilies, which he’d learned were Lois’ favourite flowers, not that she didn’t love the tulips he’d left for her. He’d then stopped in at a bottle shop and bought a bottle of white wine. It wasn’t expensive wine but Nell had given him some good advice there as well. 

The general answered his knock, smiling broadly at him. 

“Clark, come in,” he said.

Clark bit his lip. “Uh, I brought some wine,” he told Lois’ father. 

Sam took the bottle and studied it briefly. “Oh, this is good,” he said. “Good choice.” He turned and Clark followed him into the kitchen. Lois was standing at the counter, staring almost helplessly at about four different bags of groceries. 

“Uh, I didn’t know what you’d want to cook, so …”

He glanced in the bags. She’d bought fresh vegetables, tomatoes, pasta and some assorted butchery items.”

“I’m sure I can find something to work with,” he told her. She smiled up at him, then saw the flowers. Clark held them out. 

“These are for you,” he said.

“Really?” she retorted. “Who ever would have guessed?”

“Okay, can the sarcasm Lane,” he returned. 

Sam came in, putting on a jacket.

“Figured I’d take a walk around the neighbourhood,” he said. There was no mistaking the twinkle in his eye as he kissed his daughter on the cheek. “You two play nice now.”

Lois watched her father walk out the door then went to find a vase from a cupboard in the bottom of the kitchen island. As she arranged the flowers in water, she grinned at Clark.

“You know, I don’t think anywhere in the Cupid handbook it mentioned a former four-star general playing the role.”

He snickered, then began pulling the groceries out of the paper sacks before looking through her kitchen cupboards. 

“So, how do you feel about lasagne?” he asked. 

He began browning hamburger in the frypan and started chopping up tomatoes for the sauce. 

“Anything I can do to help?” Lois asked.

“Sure. You can chop some onions and garlic if you’d like.”

“Okay,” she said, picking up a board and taking an onion. Clark glanced at her as she grabbed a carving knife.

“Actually, it’s better with this,” he told her, handing her a straight-edged knife, watching as she determinedly began chopping the onion. The wrong way. It wasn’t long before she was sniffling, complaining her eyes were stinging.

“Whatever you do, don’t touch your eyes until you’ve washed your hands pretty thoroughly,” he advised, looking over at the onion she’d basically hacked to pieces. “Okay, that’s good. Now the garlic.”

“The whole thing?” she asked as she washed her hands.

“No, you just need a couple of cloves. It needs to be crushed.”

Lois looked at him with a puzzled frown. “How do you do that?”

“You can use the flat side of the knife,” he explained patiently. “Just be careful not to cut yourself.”

He added the onion and tomatoes to the pan and supervised as Lois crushed the garlic. She at least managed not to mangle that.

“So, where did you learn to cook?”

“Well, my mom was just starting to teach me to cook before they were killed. She used to enter her pies in the bake-off at the county fair and won a ribbon every year. It was one of the first things she taught me.”

Lois grimaced. “Yeah, we kind of never really got around to learning. I mean, it was just me and my dad because Lucy was at boarding school, and I was never into home ec. I guess I was just never the domestic type. And we usually ate in the mess when my dad was home.”

“What do you do now?”

He was curious about boarding school, wondering why Lucy was sent away to school but Lois wasn’t. He didn’t bring it up though, figuring Lois would tell him about it some time.

“Mostly tv dinners. My dad wasn’t kidding about the take-out. My tv dinners end up either over done or just gluggy messes.”

“Nell sometimes gives me what she calls care packages. I mean, I have a really small kitchen compared to this,” he added, waving his hand to take in the fairly large kitchen Lois had. It fit well with the décor of the rest of the apartment which had clearly been modernised even though the building was early 1920s or thereabouts. “But I like to cook for myself sometimes. It’s hard though, cooking for only one person. You end up with a lot of leftovers.”

Clark added fresh herbs and garlic and turned down the heat so the sauce could simmer.

“Well, judging from the way that smells,” Lois observed, “your leftovers have to be way better than my tv dinners.”

They continued to chat back and forth as Clark finished preparing the lasagne. Finally it was in the oven and they worked together to clean the kitchen. Lois opened the wine he’d brought and poured it into glasses.

“Cheers,” she said, clinking her glass with his. 

Clark took a sip then put his glass down on the counter before moving around it to pull her close. Lois looked up at him, her eyes huge as he held her gently but firmly in his arms, dropping his head to place a gentle kiss on her lips. 

She responded with a little moan, her mouth opening to let him in. Their tongues duelled for a few moments, with Lois clearly trying to assert dominance. Clark pushed her against the counter and she let him go, placing her hands on either side of her body as if she needed the extra help to keep her balance. He lifted her up onto the counter top, kissing her again, his mouth moving down to nibble at her earlobe. 

He became aware of her calling his name.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as he pulled away slightly.

“My dad could walk in any minute,” she said.

Clark nodded reluctantly.

“I guess you’re right.”

She laid a hand on his chest. “It’s not that I didn’t like it. I did. Really I did. I just don’t want to move too fast. I mean, don’t you think we should have a real date first?”

He nodded again. She was right. 

“So, what do you want to do for our first date?” he asked.

She grinned at him. “Why don’t you surprise me,” she said.

They broke apart and she shifted off the counter, picking up her wine glass. Just in time, Clark thought, as her father walked in the door. He took in Lois’ red cheeks and swollen lips, but said nothing.

Lois busied herself with making a salad, the one thing she claimed she could do well. 

Sam went to look in the oven, opening up the door and breathing in the rich aroma of the tomato sauce.

“Mm, smells like I got back just in time,” he said, looking up at Clark with a knowing grin, clearly implying something else entirely. 

“Dinner will be a few more minutes,” Clark told him. He grabbed some French bread and began making garlic butter, spreading it on chunks of the bread and popping it in the oven to warm.

Sam set the table.

“Did you have a good walk, Daddy?” Lois asked.

“I did. I met Perry White in the park. Of course he knew who I was. Told me to tell you not to rush coming back to work. Seems like a good man, Perry. I told him my theory about Lex.”

Clark frowned. “What theory?”

“Daddy thinks Lex might have broken a few laws when he took over the Planet,” Lois replied. 

“Don’t forget the brass are investigating what happened over in Afghanistan,” Sam added. “If what your friend told you is true, Lex is going to find himself on the sharp end of a military enquiry. They don’t appreciate their men being used for personal gain. Especially when it has nothing to do with national security.”

Clark wanted to tell the general what he’d overheard, but it wouldn’t be proof enough anyway. He turned his attention to the salad Lois was making. She was adding dressing. She looked around at him, seeming a little disconcerted at the attention. He smiled at her.

“Looks good.”

She shrugged. “It’s a salad. No cooking involved.”

“I bet Clark could teach you to cook,” Sam interjected. He’d poured himself a glass of wine.

“Actually, we cooked the lasagne together,” Clark told him.

“I didn’t do much,” Lois replied, but she sent him a smile all the same. “It must beat cooking in your own little kitchen though, Clark?”

He nodded. “It’s really too small to do what I want to do, and having a toaster oven is no substitute.”

Sam frowned at him. “You don’t have an oven at your place?”

“Well, it’s a small apartment.”

“Where do you live?”

“He lives in a tenement in Suicide Slum, Daddy,” Lois told him.

Sam was immediately concerned. “Son, that’s no place for a young man like yourself.”

Clark shrugged. “The rent’s cheap. Well, it was,” he added.

It was Lois’ turn to frown.

“What do you mean was?”

He was interrupted by the oven timer. Clark grabbed a towel and pulled the lasagne out of the oven, along with the garlic bread. The rich aroma filled the kitchen. Lois took the salad out to the table and Clark put the lasagne dish on a heating plate. 

“Why don’t you go first, Sam?” he said.

“Ladies first,” the general replied, grinning at Lois. She grinned back.

“Thank you kind sirs,” Lois returned with a laugh. She helped herself to the food, then looked at Clark. “What’s wrong with your apartment?” she asked.

“The owner’s sold it. A developer’s taking it over in three months.”

She stared at him for a moment. “Uh, I think I might know a little bit about that. Oliver and Chloe were here the other night and they told me they think Lex is behind the redevelopment of that whole district. We also think it’s the reason Intergang’s moved in to the area.”

“An increase in crime and it lowers property values, so Lex could buy it at a cheap price.”

“But from what Oliver was saying the other night, Lex wasn’t ready to make his move yet. What’s changed?”

“Well, we don’t know that he’s bought the whole block, but if he has bought the tenement, I can hazard a guess as to why,” Clark told her.

Lex acted like he thought Lois was his property. If Lex had indeed stepped up his timetable, at least where Clark’s building was concerned, then it stood to reason he was doing it out of jealousy. He wanted to hurt Clark, knowing Clark couldn’t exactly return to the farm to live, not on an intern’s meagre wage, but he couldn’t afford rent in the city either. 

Lois seemed to be on the same wavelength.

“When will he get the message that I’m not interested in him?” she sighed in frustration.

Clark put a hand over hers. 

“I may not have had a lot to do with Lex, but if he’s anything like his father, it’s not your interest he wants. He thinks he can manipulate you into burying any negative story about him.”

She nodded. “You’re right. That’s why we have to figure out what he’s up to.”

“So, if you have to move out of your apartment in three months, where are you going to go?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know. I thought about the farm, but it’s far enough away that it’ll cost too much to commute. What I save in rent I’ll have to use to buy a car, since I never bothered to get another one after Lana died.”

“You could always move in here,” Lois suggested, then blushed. “Uh, I mean, I have a second bedroom you could use. Lucy lived with me for a few months before she moved to Edge City.”

While Clark appreciated the thought, being around Lois would be too hard, not just because of his nightly activities, but also because he wouldn’t be able to resist her.

“Actually,” she said, “maybe that’s not such a good idea. I mean, we’re not exactly in the ‘moving in together’ stage yet.”

“That’s a wise decision, Lois,” the general said. “I do think you’re right Clark. It wouldn’t work for you to stay at the farm, not while you’re only an intern at the Planet. Has Perry said how long the internship is for?”

Clark shook his head. It hadn’t been mentioned. He was well aware though that the internship was dependent on him starting college studies proper in the fall. What did worry him was that if Lex was starting some kind of vendetta against him, he could very likely order Perry to fire him.

Lois seemed to be reading his mind as she studied him.

“Even if Lex did have some sort of weird vendetta against you, he can’t just fire you. He would need a damn good reason.”

He frowned at her. “Were you reading my mind?”

“I’m psychic, don’t you know,” she grinned.

“That would be telepathic,” he corrected her.

“Ah, tomayto, tomahto.”

Sam put his knife and fork down. “Well, Clark, that was delicious. You were taught well.”

“Thank you.”

“Why don’t you two go relax and I’ll put these in the dishwasher.”

Clark looked at the dishes, surprised to find the lasagne was all gone. Then he remembered Lois telling him that she had a hearty appetite. She rose from the table and groaned softly.

“Ugh, I’m gonna have to run for about two hours just to work off all that food.”

Clark settled on the couch with her. 

“So, where do you want to start with investigating Lex?” he asked.

“Smallville, in case you hadn’t noticed, my dad is in the kitchen and we’re out here. Alone.”

“I thought you said you wanted to take this slowly?” he asked.

She twisted her body and laid a hand on his chest. “I do,” she said, fiddling with the buttons on his shirt. “I mean, I’ve made a lot of mistakes when it comes to dating. You’re the one I want to get it right with. But I don’t want to do the one step forward two steps back thing either.”

“Me either,” he told her, trying to think of a gentle way of telling her that while her father seemed to have given his blessing, Clark doubted Sam wanted to actually see them making out. 

Lois sighed softly and pulled away. 

“Um, I was doing a little research before you got here. About Professor Willowbrook’s grand-daughter.”

Clark stared at her, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh?”

She nodded. “There was an accident at the construction site for the office park and one of the workers was killed. They accused the professor of murder after they found something in his trash, but then the coroner found what looked like teeth marks on the body.”

Well, that sounded weird. 

“Teeth marks?”

“Mmm, canis lupis, to be exact.”

“As in wolf? That can’t be right. Wolves have been extinct for nearly a century in Smallville.”

“I thought they meant a dog,” Lois replied. 

“Well, it’s the same genus. Dogs are canis familiaris.” He shifted in the seat. “So where did this wolf come from?”

“That’s the really strange thing. See, there were sightings of a white wolf in the area, and Lionel claimed he was attacked by one in the mansion. Then a security guard came rushing in and tried to shoot it and it jumped out a window. But get this. Kyla died from stab wounds. Only she wasn’t stabbed by a knife. They found glass in the wound.”

Clark tried to think of a reasonable explanation, but thanks to Chloe’s stories in the Torch, there had been a lot of rumours going around about people being changed by the meteors that had landed the same time as his ship. Could Kyla have been the wolf? He decided he would have to talk to Joseph about it. He’d already started reading the book on the legend of Naman and it had mentioned the green stones. He wondered if that had been meteor rock. It still made him curious, however. If the meteor rock was pieces of Krypton, how could it have been on Earth centuries earlier?

Lois told him she knew about Chloe’s theories, considering she’d spent a couple of months in Smallville herself. 

Sam came in, having declared the kitchen so clean he could swipe it with a white glove and not find a single speck of dust. Unlike the rest of the apartment, he added with a grin at his blushing daughter. 

Clark finally left the apartment around ten that night, quickly changing into his Guardian outfit to patrol the city. All seemed quiet. As he prepared for bed three hours later he couldn’t help smiling. From the way Lois had talked about the weirdness that was Smallville, she didn’t seem put off by it. Truth was, she was fascinated. It made him wonder how she would react to his secret. 

He was surprised to get a knock on the window to his fire escape just as he was about to head to bed. Frowning, he looked out. Oliver, in his Green Arrow uniform.

“Oliver?” he said, letting the man in.

“Sorry. Guess you were getting ready for bed,” Oliver said, taking in his torn t-shirt and boxers.

“Uh, yeah. What is it?”

“I could use your help. Bart’s disappeared. I sent him to break in to one of the Luthorcorp facilities but he never came back.” He chewed on his lower lip. “There’s something else. Chloe told me about your little side project. You’re not going to like this.”

“Let me guess. Lex has one of the stones?”

“Good guess, and you’d be right.”

Damn! Clark thought. Still, he should have expected that, since Chloe’s research had discovered what Lionel had been up to before he died. 

“All right, wait here a sec,” he said. 

He sped into his bedroom and quickly changed back into his Guardian outfit. He was gone not more than two seconds. Oliver stared at him in shock.

“I knew you were fast, but …”

“Yeah, it takes a little getting used to. Let’s go.”

***

Lois found herself singing as she showered before bed. While she had a good voice, and loved to go to the local club for karaoke, she didn’t sing that often. When she did, it was because she was happy. 

She couldn’t help thinking about the evening. Talking with Clark, making dinner with him – sure, it was all kind of ‘domestic’ but she was comfortable. 

As she got into bed, she thought about the first guy she had ever dated. She had been fifteen and he had been a high school senior. Lois had been thrilled that the boy, Michael, had been interested in her, especially as he was one of the popular crowd. Growing up the daughter of an army general, used to moving every year or so, didn’t let her fit in that well, so of course she’d been flattered.

It was too bad that it had all been empty flattery. A couple of dates with him and she realised that the only reason the guy was popular was because he was on the football team. Michael hadn’t been that bright and all he could ever talk about was himself and how many touchdowns he’d scored. He seemed to think that she was desperate enough to be popular that she could overlook such shallowness.

It had been a good thing in the end that the general had taken up a post at another base two months later and they’d moved yet again. Especially after Michael had started spreading rumours that she had slept with him, when it couldn’t be further from the truth. 

She didn’t date again until her senior year and by that time, Lois had learned to hide her insecurities behind a veneer of self-confidence. Of course, that hadn’t stopped her from skipping school every chance she got, and when her father had found out, he had blown his top. He’d told her how disappointed he was, especially after he’d learned that she was skipping classes to go and smoke with the guy she had been dating and his friends. 

The novelty of that relationship quickly wore off when she began to hate the smell that hung around her clothes. Her father had also told her that her mother had died from lung cancer. So she’d quit smoking shortly before she was supposed to start at Met U. 

Of course, then she’d found out that she hadn’t got enough credits to graduate and her school had told her the only way was for her to complete them at summer school. Lois had skipped out on that and that was how she’d ended up at Smallville High repeating her senior year. 

The good thing about that year was she got to spend more time with Chloe, even if she had been forced to get a job at a coffee shop in Granville, which was a larger town than ‘Podunk’ as she had immediately dubbed Smallville, after being kicked out of Met U. That was how she’d met her third boyfriend.

Graeme had been sweet and nice, but there had been things about him that just didn’t add up. Not to mention the fact that he seemed to disappear whenever she wanted to talk about something serious. What was it with her and emotionally unavailable guys, she thought, rolling over in bed.

Oh, right. Her father. 

With Clark, it just seemed … right. Sure, he still had a few walls up, but she could understand that. He had, after all, lost a wife and child. He at least seemed willing to give them a shot. 

She liked him. She liked who she was around him. Being with Clark wasn’t just comfortable. There was passion. There was definitely passion, especially when he kissed her. The moment she felt his lips on hers it was like the whole world could explode around them and she wouldn’t care. 

If she hadn’t been so aware of the fact her father could walk in any minute earlier, she was sure she would have loved to have kept on kissing Clark forever. Or done something more. 

That was the thing that scared her a little. That she could feel so much for a man she’d known just a few short weeks. That those feelings could be so intense. The one guy she’d gone to bed with – Graeme, the sex had been so disastrous she hadn’t wanted to try again. 

The television was on when she got up the next morning.

“Hi sweetheart,” her father said, his eyes practically glued to the screen. “Have you heard about this?”

Lois usually made a habit of checking the news feeds on her smart phone before getting up, but she hadn’t that morning. She’d tossed and turned half the night and when she had finally fallen asleep she had slept so deeply that she hadn’t woken up until late. 

She poured herself a cup of black coffee and returned to the living room to see what was going on. A building near the docks had blown sky-high early in the morning. It turned out to have been owned by Lex, who the news reporter quoted as saying the building was just an empty storage facility. 

“Gas leak?” she repeated after the reporter had told the anchorwoman the supposed cause of the explosion. 

It didn’t sound right, she thought. Why would an empty storage facility have gas? It sounded to her like a cover-up of some kind. 

“If you want to go investigate this, sweetheart, I don’t mind.”

She shook her head. As tempted as she was, her father was more important right now. Almost losing him in Afghanistan had woken her up to a lot of things she’d been missing. He’d admitted the same thing and told her that was the reason he’d decided to retire from the army. 

“I wanted to spend time with you, Daddy,” she told him. 

“I know, and I appreciate that, but …”

“No buts. There’ll always be another headline. I work too much as it is.”

He turned and smiled at her. “You’re right.”

She continued sipping her coffee, watching as he picked up the remote and turned off the television. She relaxed.

“Can I ask you something?” she said.

“Of course.”

“How did you know Mom was the one?”

“Ooh, now you’re asking a tough question. It’s hard to describe, but it’s … it’s the way you feel when you’re with them. Like the world stops turning, just for an instant. Your mom would walk in a room and it would instantly seem brighter. The army made me a soldier, Lois, but your mom … she made me a man. As hard as it was going away on dangerous missions, she made coming home easier.”

He’d said that before, but Lois didn’t comment on that. 

“Did you feel like, I don’t know, like the world revolved around her?”

He shook his head. “No, not really like that. It was more that she was my world.” He looked at her. “Is this about Clark?”

She didn’t answer that. “What do you think of him?”

“I think if anyone can make you happy, yet keep you on your toes at the same time, it’s Clark. He seems to be a good man. A little reserved, perhaps, but I can understand why, especially after losing his family.”

“I think … no, I know. I’m falling in love with him. I don’t know what it is, but it’s like, when I’m with him, I can be myself. I don’t have to put on any kind of mask.”

“I have to admit, Lo, I was worried about you for a while. Being alone, burying yourself in your work, it wasn’t good for you. Don’t get me wrong, sweetheart. I’m proud of you. You found something you’re not only passionate about, you’re also good at it. But if anyone knows what it’s like to watch your family’s heart break because you can’t leave your work behind, it’s me.”

“I remember Mom trying to put a brave face on it, even when you went away. I guess she figured that was the only way she could help you do what you had to do.”

“I know she did,” he replied. “And I was always grateful for that. Coming home was hard. I saw too much, did too much, but knowing I had the three of you to come home to reminded me of what I was fighting for.”

“It’s kind of how I feel about being a reporter. Maybe I’ll never, I don’t know, discover a cure for cancer, and maybe I’m not out there fighting terrorism …”

“We all have our own way of making a difference, Lo. Whether we’re a soldier or a reporter, or a superhero, like the Guardian.”

She frowned at him. “Oh yeah. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. How did you know it was him in Afghanistan?”

“I do read your articles, Lo,” he told her with a grin. “And believe it or not, I do listen in our occasional phone conversations. I told you. I’m proud of you for doing something you believe in.” He was quiet for a moment. “I was dragged out by the terrorists, and I stood there thinking ‘this is it’. All I could think of in that moment was you two girls and how much I loved you and suddenly they start yelling. I’m trying to figure out what they’re saying and one of them comes back with a kid in a hood. I’m looking at this kid wondering what the hell he was doing there. He couldn’t have been more than eighteen or nineteen years old. Too damned young to have mounted a rescue mission by himself. 

“Next thing I know there’s something like a whirlwind and all I can see is this dark blur. Then I remembered something I’d read in one of your articles and I realised who it was. He dropped the men in the dust like they were lightweights.”

“So you didn’t see who he was?”

Her father shook his head. “He did pause for a second, I think, but he wasn’t standing still long enough for me to identify him.”

“But you definitely saw the other one?”

“Absolutely.”

“Thing is Dad, there have been stories circulating of people like the Guardian. People with powers. I even think there was one of a man with speed like the Guardian, but that’s about all he can do.”

“The brass are looking into this too.”

She stared at him. “Daddy …”

“I know,” he said. “If the brass manage to catch up with them, they’re likely to view them as hostile. I have to be honest, Lo, if the Guardian hadn’t saved my life that day, I would have thought the same thing. I did hear rumours in Washington that they’re setting up some kind of taskforce to look into all these ‘superheroes’.”

“But we can’t let them do that, Dad. If people like the Guardian think they’re under scrutiny, especially by the government, it could drive them further underground.”

She had to do something. She didn’t know what, exactly, but there had to be something she could do. The last thing she wanted was for someone like the Guardian to stop doing what he was doing. He’d already saved so many lives in the two years he’d been working in Metropolis. 

“I think that’s half the trouble, Lo. That they’re underground. I’m not saying someone like the Guardian should have to answer to the authorities, even though technically he is a vigilante, but …”

“Maybe that’s the answer,” she said, the idea dawning. “Maybe all he needs to do is come out of the shadows and reveal himself to the world.”

She would have to figure out a way to convince him, she thought. If she could ever get to talk to him, that was.


	18. Caves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark goes back to Smallville to investigate the caves

While Clark hadn’t been happy at the thought of Lex using his facility to experiment on people like Bart, he was even less happy at the way Oliver had blown it up. When they’d returned to the penthouse, he confronted the older man.

“You didn’t have to blow it up,” he admonished the blond.

“C’mon Clark, Lex was using it to study people with abilities. I would have done the same thing if it had been you in there.”

He bit his lip and glanced at the other three. They didn’t seem too concerned. Bart was busy stuffing himself with pizza, clearly trying to rebuild his depleted energy, while Victor and AC were playing some kind of game using Oliver’s game console. 

Bart had been captured by Lex’s people when he’d tried breaking in to the facility, only to receive a massive electric shock. It had been a set-up. Imprisoned in some sort of cage, he’d been forced to literally run for his life or be blown up when he had to stop on the pressure plates for more than a micro-second.

Clark had gone in with Oliver and the team and managed to get Bart out before anything had happened, not realising that Oliver had also sent AC and Victor to fulfil another purpose - getting more information and blowing up the facility.

Whether it had been Bart or himself who had been taken was irrelevant, Clark thought. He didn’t understand Oliver’s reasons for his actions.

“That’s not the point,” he said quietly. 

He hadn’t asked what Oliver’s beef was with Lex, but it seemed like this was less to do with the bald billionaire’s illegal activities and more personal.

“Just what happened between you and Lex?”

“It’s none of your business,” Oliver said, scowling at him. 

“I have a right to know, especially if I’m the one being caught in the middle of a war between you and him.”

“This has nothing to do with you, Clark. Just drop it.”

“No, I won’t. I get the feeling this is all personal for you and I want to know.”

“Look, you don’t know Lex the way I do. He’s the kind of guy who will pretend to be your friend to your face and betray you behind your back.”

“Is that what he did to you?” Clark asked, conscious of the three others now watching them, clearly curious about the argument.

Oliver grimaced. “No,” he said. “Someone else.” He ran a hand through his spiky blond hair. “Oh hell. You’d only ask Chloe about it and she’d probably tell you.”

“Chloe knows?”

“Trust me, when she found out the part I played in it, she ripped me a new one. Didn’t speak to me for days.”

Clark nodded. If Chloe refused to speak to her boyfriend over the matter, then clearly it was pretty bad. Chloe and Lois were a lot alike in that respect. They could hold grudges like no other. 

“So … what happened?”

Oliver looked pained. He raised his hands. “Look, I did a lot of stupid things when I was a kid. My parents died when I was nine and I guess you could say I was spoiled. I was raised by my nanny, although she pretty much just let me do whatever I wanted. So, at Excelsior I behaved like … well, I thought I ruled the school, and I let the other boys know it.”

“Was there some kind of rivalry between you and Lex?”

Oliver shook his head. “No, I … I bullied him. And a friend of his. Duncan.” He raised his hand again. “You have to understand. We all thought Lex was a weird kid, and not just because he was bald. He spent most of his time reading and talking about these comic books. Anyway, one day Lex told me that he and Duncan had seen me and two other guys stealing the answers to an exam. He basically blackmailed us, saying he wouldn’t tell the headmaster if we left him and Duncan alone. Well, Duncan wouldn’t go along with it and Lex turned on him. He started beating on this kid, who was his only real friend at that school.”

Clark nodded. He could see what Oliver had meant by Lex being capable of betrayal. Maybe it didn’t excuse Oliver’s bullying, but he could see from the other man’s body language that he’d found it disturbing.

“I sometimes think if I’d acted sooner and pulled Lex off, then it wouldn’t have happened.”

“What wouldn’t have happened?”

“Duncan basically screamed at Lex, then ran out into the road and was hit by a car.” Oliver sighed. His face was full of grief and remorse. “I’m going to remember that moment until the day I die, Clark. The thing is, I wish I could say that was my worst moment, but it wasn’t. When Lionel found out what had happened, he turned on the headmaster, got him fired. Then he basically ripped into Lex, told him he was weak … I forget what else he said, but he took Lex away for a couple of weeks and when Lex came back to school he was different. Colder.”

“What about you? You said that wasn’t your worst moment?”

The noises from the sound system suggested the other three had gone back to their game. Oliver handed Clark a glass of juice and they sat down opposite each other in leather chairs, away from the rest of the team.

“I started drinking, getting into all sorts of trouble. I couldn’t deal with the fact that I’d watched this kid die and know that I had caused at least some of it. By the time I graduated from Excelsior, I was a mess. If I wasn’t a full-blown alcoholic then, I was well on the way to being one.”

“So how did you become Green Arrow?” Clark asked.

“I decided to take the family yacht out after graduation. I partied for three days until it was hijacked. I managed to fight off the hijackers and escape in a liferaft, then washed up on a desert island. Where I remained for two years until some drug runners found me.”

“That’s when you came back?”

“I came back and I resolved to be a better person. My father taught me a little bit about archery and I learned even more living with the natives on the island. That time away gave me a whole different perspective. When I returned, it was like I had changed but everything else was still the same. The people I knew, people I thought were my friends were just as arrogant as ever. I saw a world in trouble and I thought I could make a difference.”

He sighed again. “So yeah, maybe it is personal between Lex and I, but what he’s doing is still wrong, morally, ethically and legally. I’m sorry if you feel like you’re caught in the middle of this, but I never meant for that to happen.”

Clark considered this for a moment.

“You’re right,” he said with a sigh. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

The blond shrugged. “It’s all right. You have your own principles and I admire that. It doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to agree, though. The point is, by blowing up the facility, we destroyed any chance Lex had of rebuilding and starting his program all over again.”

“Lex will have back-ups,” Clark pointed out.

“I have no doubt he will, which is why I have the guys working on uncovering more of them. I could use your help on this.”

“I don’t … know,” Clark said slowly. 

“Clark, if we let Lex get away with playing God, there’s no telling what else he will do.”

“I get that, I do, but I …”

“Hey, I promised Chloe I’d help you with your problem. We figure Lex has a private vault somewhere where he keeps his most valuable items. I’m pretty sure one of those stones you’ve been told to find are there.”

“So how do we find this vault?”

“Chloe and Vic are working on that,” the blond billionaire told him. “They’re investigating every piece of property Lex owns. It’ll take time.”

“I’m not sure I have time,” Clark said. 

Oliver frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

“My ship - the one that brought me to Earth. It’s at the farm. I think Lex has had someone investigating the farm under the pretext of some government agency.”

The other man looked alarmed.

“Are you sure?”

He nodded. “I ran into the sheriff today, I mean, yesterday, and she told me she’d seen someone poking around. They apparently had a permit to investigate the farm for pesticides.”

Oliver scratched at his upper lip. His jaw was showing signs of a ‘five o’clock shadow’. 

“This doesn’t sound good. First Lex tries to buy the farm, now he’s having it investigated for pesticides?”

“There’s more,” Clark said. “I think Lex has upped the timetable on his property buying.” He told Oliver about his upcoming eviction.

“I wish I could say I’m surprised, but given your new status with Lois …”

Clark frowned at him. “How do you know about that?”

The other man grinned. “C’mon, have you forgotten I’m dating her cousin? Those two talk about everything, and I do mean everything.”

He made a face and groaned. “Oh great. Just what I need.”

“Anyway, my guess is, Lex is jealous as hell and he’s hitting back at you.”

Clark nodded. That made a lot of sense. He related to Oliver what had happened over dinner at Lois’ and both Sam Lane and Perry’s theory on Lex’s takeover of the Planet. 

“Given what I know about Lex, again, I can’t say I’m surprised. When Lex wants something, he will do anything to get it.”

“Which means Lois,” Clark said. “What is he trying to achieve?”

“Lex’s ambitions aren’t just in the boardroom, Clark. The man is bucking to be President in a few years. Beautiful woman on his arm, especially one who knows how to use the media to his advantage …”

“He wants power and he’ll use anyone to get it. Does Lois know?” He smacked his forehead. “What am I saying? Of course she knows. She’s too astute not to.”

“Yeah,” Oliver agreed. “Listen, watch your back. Lex already has it in for you and no doubt it’ll get worse. What are you going to do about your apartment?”

“I don’t know. I can’t move in with Nell. She only has a small place. I can’t move back to the farm. I’m trying to pretend to be just a normal guy with a normal job. If I live at the farm, I can’t exactly commute back and forth. And using super speed is just going to present a whole slew of problems.”

The blond nodded. “I’d offer to let you move in here, but I get the feeling you would turn me down anyway.”

“I appreciate the offer, Oliver, but you’re right. It’s not because I don’t want a roommate or anything like that, it’s just …”

“Your pride. You’re the type of guy who doesn’t like feeling you’re beholden to anyone. Even though it wouldn’t be like that.”

Clark smiled at the older man. 

“I guess you’re getting to know me pretty well.”

He glanced at his watch. “I should head out. I have class in a couple of hours and there’s something else I need to check out.”

“Sure. Thanks for your help tonight, Clark.”

Clark returned home and showered, changing into clean clothes. Before he headed out for his class, he made a call.

A few hours later found him near Miller’s Bend in Smallville, walking through the trees and past what used to be the site of the Luthorcorp office park. There was a wire fence surrounding the site and notices from the Kansas State government warning against trespassing. 

Clark ignored the signs and approached the gate, which had been opened. 

“Mr Kent?” a husky voice said.

Clark turned and looked at the older man.

“Professor.”

Joseph Willowbrook smiled. “I’m glad you decided to meet with me.”

“I read your book Professor. I needed to see it for myself.”

“It’s this way,” the Kawatche elder replied, leading the way down into what appeared to be a valley. Clark saw an opening in the clifftop, realising it was the caves he’d been told about.

The older man took a flashlight out of his pocket.

“Mr Luthor has been studying these caves extensively, hoping to uncover their secrets. The Kawatche people have tried to stop the research. We were concerned the work would destroy the artifacts contained inside.”

“Why would Mr Luthor take such an interest in the caves?” Clark asked. It didn’t seem like something Lex would care about, let alone show any interest at all in preserving them.

“For this reason,” the professor replied, shining the beam of light on the cave walls.

Clark had, of course, seen the images in the book, but to see them at such close range, inside the caves themselves, made him shiver a little. There was just something so … surreal, he thought. 

He saw the two-headed monster Lois had asked about the day before.

“So, you said this was Naman and Sageeth?”

The older man nodded. “Yes. As I said, the two men are spiritual brothers, destined to become enemies.”

Clark nodded in return and kept looking at the pictographs. There was something which looked like a spaceship and a crude drawing of a spaceman surrounded by rain.

“The rain of fire,” he whispered, tracing the rain, then the shape of the ship. How could someone from centuries ago have predicted his arrival, let alone anything else? As far as he knew, his people weren’t psychic.

He started to look around and became disconcerted when he saw the way Joseph was looking at him.

“You are a very unusual young man, Mr Kent.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I admit I did a little research on you when you called asking to meet me today. You were adopted by your parents when you were very young.”

“Yes sir, but how does that make me unusual?”

“For a few months you seemed to be at the centre of a number of odd occurrences.”

“Professor, I …”

“Clark,” the old man said kindly. “I have no wish to hurt you or make you afraid. Tell me, what is your interest in the caves? In the Kawatche?”

“I … I’m not sure what you mean,” he said lamely.

“Please don’t insult me by trying to act obtuse, Mr Kent. Most people would dismiss the legend of Naman as nonsense, but yesterday when I mentioned it, I saw your reaction.”

“You think I’m this Naman?” he asked, then hastily backtracked, not wanting to give himself away. By the look on the professor’s face, however, it was already too late to backpedal. “You really think the legend is true?”

“Only you can decide that, Mr Kent. However, the fact that you presume to know what I’m thinking speaks volumes.”

“I’m an only child. I don’t have a brother.”

“You mistake the meaning of the legend, Clark. When I say Sageeth is Naman’s spiritual brother, I mean they share something in common.”

Clark frowned. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Any more than a man who can run faster than the wind, or light fires with his eyes?” the professor pointed out. 

He made a good point, Clark thought. He once again turned to the drawings on the wall, noticing a few strange symbols. As he traced them, he felt a strange kind of feeling, as if the symbols were somehow familiar. 

Still, the caves offered no clue to how he was going to solve the mystery of the stones. He sighed, not sure how to proceed.

As he started to turn away, he noticed another symbol, this time of a girl, wearing what looked to be some kind of jewellery.

“Who’s that?” he asked.

“That is the woman Naman is destined to be with.”

“Oh.” Clark didn’t know what to think, and the professor didn’t enlighten him any further.

***

Lois had enjoyed her father’s visit, feeling she had regained something she had thought to have been lost a long time ago. Instead of work, she had spent the time listening to her father tell stories about him and her mother, from the day they had met to his heartbreak when her mother had passed away. 

The one thing she did realise was how proud her father was of her. When she’d been a teenager, he’d despaired of her ever behaving like a mature adult, but she’d impressed him when she had finally found her calling.

She remembered a conversation she had had with him after she had been kicked out of Met U. He’d been upset, but surprisingly resigned rather than angry. He’d told her that she needed to shape up, to reassess her priorities. Lois, in an act of defiance, had refused to bow down to her father’s orders. When he’d refused to support her, she had managed to get a job at the coffee shop. The wages had not been great and she’d relied heavily on tips, but she’d shared an apartment with Chloe, which had made things easier. 

It was a minor incident at the coffee shop that had changed everything for her. Lois had been serving as usual and a customer had berated her, calling her a dropout and telling her she would never amount to anything. It was ironic that the customer had been Lionel Luthor. 

Determined she would never be called a dropout again, Lois had talked to her father, who had agreed to help her get into Kansas State, telling her it was her last chance to prove herself to him. 

While that might have been harsh, she realised now he had just been using ‘toughlove’. The general had always been fairly strict, and when she was a kid she had chafed against his restrictions, but she understood now that he had been afraid of losing her and Lucy too. Maybe he hadn’t said it in so many words, but he’d implied it in so many ways in the brief time they’d spent together. 

He’d asked her why she had chosen journalism as a career. Part of it had been because of the incident that had eventually seen her leave Met U, but it was a professor at Kansas State who had finally clinched it for her. He had spent some time in the trenches, so to speak, and had won a Pulitzer for his effort. While he had been modest about it, Lois had realised that in his own small way he had made a difference. 

Her first two months she had struggled to get her grades up to the level expected of her to stay in the class. Then one afternoon, after a particularly gruelling day, the professor had asked her to stay behind. 

“Lois, I can see you’re having some trouble in your classes.”

“Well, I …” she began. “I’m just …”

He smiled at her. “I get it. Believe me, I know what it’s like to have a parent who is constantly on your back pressuring you to keep up your grades.”

“He just worries,” she said.

“As all parents tend to do but let me give you a little advice. Relax. Yes, your grades are important, but the more you stress yourself worrying about getting good grades, the harder you make it on yourself.” She chewed her lip, studying him. “Don’t worry. I know all about what happened at Met U and I did read your transcripts. You are a bright young woman and in many ways, I don’t think you give yourself enough credit for that. The thing is, I think you have great potential and it would be remiss of me to let you walk out of this class without giving you the opportunity to really prove yourself.”

The professor had become her mentor and her friend, encouraging her to join the campus newspaper staff. Eventually he had provided her a reference when she began applying for internships.

At first, she had been a little sceptical of the man’s overtures, until she had met Perry. He had interviewed her for the internship and had read the professor’s name on her resume. Lois had been surprised when he had burst out laughing, staring at the older man as if he’d gone nuts.

Perry had smiled at her, then told her he’d worked with the professor years earlier. That had puzzled her, since the editor-in-chief was at least ten to fifteen years older than her professor, until Perry had explained that he had been the man’s mentor. After he’d told her a few stories, she’d realised why the professor had chosen to mentor her. He too had not had the greatest of starts to his journalism career. 

“Lo?”

She looked up and smiled at her father. He had packed his duffel bag and was clearly ready to go. She glanced at the clock on her phone. They had about thirty minutes to get to the train station. 

“Wow, I can’t believe it’s time already,” she said.

The general smiled back at her. 

“I’ve enjoyed the last couple of days,” he said. 

“Me too, Daddy. I’m just … I’m so glad you came.”

He wrapped his arms around her. “As am I.”

She stepped away and grabbed her keys from the table, following him out the door.

At the train station, she watched the board, chewing her lip as they waited for the announcement that his train was coming in.

“Give Lucy and the baby a big hug from me,” she said.

“I will sweetheart,” he replied. He studied her for a moment. “I’m proud of you, Lo.”

“Daddy …” She felt tears prickling her eyes. 

“Aw now, don’t do that,” he said, brushing her cheek. “Where’s my little solider, huh?”

She rolled her eyes. “Daddy, c’mon.”

He laughed, but pretended to look wounded. 

“You used to love that nickname.”

“Yeah, when I was a little girl!”

“You’ll always be my little girl,” he said softly. “I love you, Lo.”

“I love you too, Dad.”

“Give Clark a hug for me,” he said. “Let me know how the date goes.”

“Dad!” she spluttered. “I’m not gonna give you a play-by-play!”

He laughed again. “I don’t need that much information, sweetheart. But I do want to make sure he takes good care of you.”

“He will,” she said, not wanting to tell her father that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. 

He nodded. “That young Clark is a good man. If there’s one thing I learned from your mom, it’s that when you find something that good, you grab on to it with both hands.”

The whistle blew and he got on board. Lois watched as the train began to move and continued to do so until it disappeared from view. 

As she turned to leave, she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. Lois pulled it out, glancing at the screen, then pressed the key to accept the call.

“Hey Chloe. What’s up?”

“Hey. You busy?”

“No, I was just seeing my dad off on the train. Why?”

“Come over to Oliver’s apartment. There’s something we wanted to talk to you about.”

“Okay, sure. I guess I’ll see you in about twenty minutes or so.”

Lois drove over to Oliver’s apartment, wondering what her cousin wanted to talk about. Chloe was clearly waiting for her as she opened the lift door as soon as it stopped.

“Hi,” she said, giving Lois a quick hug. “Did your dad get off okay?”

“Yeah. He’s going to call me as soon as he gets to Lucy’s place.”

Oliver came in, holding what looked like a sheaf of papers.

“Hey Legs. How did things go with your dad?”

“Great,” she said, smiling at the blond billionaire. “Really great.”

He smiled back, moving to sit on the couch. Chloe sat beside him, inviting Lois to sit opposite them. Oliver put some papers down on the coffee table.

“So, Chloe’s been telling me about your little investigation on Lex’s buyout of the Daily Planet.”

She glanced at her cousin. She’d only briefly mentioned it on the phone to Chloe the night before.

“Well, it’s not like I’ve actually started looking into it,” she began.

Oliver scratched at his lip. “Well, Chloe’s been doing some digging and I’ve been asking around a few of my contacts. Lex and I run in the same circles …”

“Which I get, but what does that have to do with how Lex took over the Planet?”

“We found something,” Chloe said excitedly. “One of the ex-board members of the Planet took early retirement.”

Lois frowned. “How early are we talking?”

“The guy just turned fifty and he retired two years ago. So, Chloe did some digging into his accounts and he got a pretty hefty payout. As in five million dollars.”

She stared at the blond. Five million dollars was a lot of money.

“So, of course, we smell a rat and do some digging into some other accounts, and …”

“Uh, is this, um, legal?” she asked her cousin.

“Well, no, not if you want to get technical. But bigger picture here, Lo, from what we managed to dig up, all the board members took big payouts.”

Still, that wasn’t a smoking gun, Lois thought. Lex could probably cover himself by saying that the money was just a payment in lieu, or something. 

Chloe looked crestfallen when she pointed that out. Oliver nudged her.

“She has a point, honey,” he said.

Lois glanced at her cousin, then back at Oliver. Sure, they were dating, but since when were they up to the ‘honey’ stage? She decided to ignore it for now, but her cousin was going to be in for a grilling. 

She looked at the papers Oliver had shown her.

“This is great information, Chlo, but I think we need to do some more digging before we can go and accuse Lex of anything.”

“Okay, you’re right. It’s not exactly hard evidence, but you have to admit it does look a bit suspect.”

She nodded, gathering up the pages. It was a start, at least. 

“Thanks for this,” she said, smiling and nodding at Oliver.

“I’m going to keep talking to my contacts,” Oliver replied. “But, and please don’t think I’m being over-protective guy or anything, please be careful. If Lex was the one behind your dad’s disappearance in Afghanistan, as we suspect, there is no telling what the man is capable of.”

Lois nodded and got up to leave. She hugged her cousin.

“We’ll talk later,” she said. 

Chloe smiled. “Sure.”

Lois drove home, glancing now and again at the papers on the front seat of the car. She wanted to study them more thoroughly but it could wait. It was dark and had started to rain as she’d left the train station and it was coming down in buckets now.

She became aware of another car following her as she drove. She glanced now and again in her rear-view mirror, feeling a little uneasy. She didn’t recognise the vehicle and couldn’t see the driver.

Lois pulled up at a controlled intersection, glancing once again at the rear view mirror. Either the driver was extremely bad at following someone or she was being paranoid. Biting her lip, Lois decided the only way to settle it was to do something drastic. Glancing ahead of her, she saw a gap in the traffic and stepped on the gas, quickly turning right into the next street. Horns blared, but the car that had been behind her didn’t chase after her.

Paranoid, she thought, driving on.

Yet, as she turned into the tree-lined avenue that was her street, the car once more appeared behind her. Either they knew where she lived or had raced to catch up. 

Suddenly the car sped up and moved beside her, blocking off traffic coming the other way. The driver wrenched the wheel, forcing her to stamp on the brakes. Her tyres skidded on the slick, wet road and she knew she was headed for disaster. Lois threw up her hands to cover her face, waiting for the sickening crunch.

The only sound she heard was the screech of metal, but the impact wasn’t nearly as jarring as she had thought it was going to be. She felt a strange sensation, as if the car was being lowered very slowly and gently. Lois lowered her hands and stared out the front windscreen, watching in amazement as the silhouetted form of a man could be seen in the darkness. He stood in the street, as if looking back at her. Lois tried to make out his face but before she could do so, he sped off into the night.

She blinked rapidly, still in shock from the accident. The Guardian had just saved her life.


	19. Crash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark saves Lois from a crash as the Guardian, but meets someone who causes him to wonder if he can continue to pursue a relationship with her and help people.

Clark had decided to go to Lois’ place after his trip to Smallville, hoping she might welcome a home cooked meal. Of course, he’d cooked dinner for them the night before but he wondered if Lois might want the company, since her father would have left for Edge City.

He’d pressed the call button for her apartment, frowning when there was no reply and decided to call Chloe.

“Hey, have you seen Lois?”

“Yeah,” his friend replied. “She just left Oliver’s apartment.”

“How long?” he asked. As he waited for her answer, he saw Lois turn into the avenue, the headlights seeming to shimmer in the pouring rain. With the phone still to his ear, he started down the steps of the building only to watch in growing horror as a car that seemed to have been following her suddenly accelerated and moved to overtake her before the driver wrenched the wheel. Car horns blared loudly, the sound seeming to bounce off the walls of the apartment buildings. 

Clark heard the screech as Lois’ wheel locked into a skid. He moved quickly, grabbing the front end of her car lifting it slightly into the air, wincing as he heard the screech of metal. The front bumper and hood bent inwards as he used his strength to stop the car just inches short of another vehicle parked on the side of the road and let it down gently.

He could just see the look of horror on Lois’ face as she stared out through the windscreen. Her expression slowly changed to relief and what seemed to be curiosity. He quickly moved away, hoping it was just dark enough for her not to have seen his face, let alone his clothing, which was now soaked through. 

The car which had caused the accident had sped away, but not before Clark had managed to get the licence plate number.

Clark ran into the alley beside her building, quickly making sure no one had seen his exit, before running back out and pretending he had just witnessed it from the steps of her building.

“Lois?” he said, running at human speed up to her car.

A crowd had already gathered, but no one was making any effort to help her out of the car. Clark pulled the door open and she grabbed his hand. He could see she was shaken up, her face pale.

“Cl … Clark,” she said, stammering as the shock caused her to shiver.

“I saw what happened. Are you okay?”

“Uh … uh …”

“Oh my goodness,” a voice said. Clark looked around and frowned at a woman who appeared to be in her late sixties. “Lois, dear, are you all right?”

Lois seemed to come out of her stupor for a moment, as she smiled at the woman, clearly a neighbour.

“I’m fine, Mrs H.”

“No you’re not. Look at you, you’re shaking.” The woman turned and looked at Clark. “And you, young man. You’ll catch your death in those clothes. Both of you come up to my apartment.”

From the woman’s tone, Clark could tell she was used to instant obedience. He still hesitated, however.

“Maybe we should, uh, wait for the police.”

“Oh, pshaw, you’re soaking wet, young man, and you, young Lois, you’re in shock.”

Lois nodded and began to follow the older woman. She had no sooner taken a step when she crumpled. Clark realised she had fainted. He caught her in his arms and lifted her, carrying her across the street to where the old lady was waiting. 

“Bring her inside, dear,” she instructed. 

Clark followed her up the steps, trying to make it look like it was an effort. Lois was no lightweight and he was sure any normal human would have had some difficulty.

The old lady had an apartment on the first floor. She led the way inside and told Clark to lay Lois on the couch. 

“I have some clothes in the bedroom, dear,” she said. “They belong to my grandson. He’s not quite as tall as you, but at least they’ll be warm. We can’t have you getting sick.”

“Uh,” he began, looking anxiously at Lois. Her face was lily white.

She propelled him toward the bathroom and handed him a towel.

“Don’t you worry about Lois, sweetie. I have some smelling salts around here somewhere. I’ll make some hot, sweet tea. It’s good for shock. Now why don’t you go and get out of those wet clothes and I’ll bring you some dry clothes.”

Clark did as he was told, since the old lady was so insistent. He removed his wet gear, drying himself off with the towel. The lady knocked on the door and he opened it a crack.

“Here you go, sweetie. These will keep you warm.”

He took the sweats she handed him and put them on. The clothes were a little small, but not too bad. He bundled up his wet clothes and took them out. Lois was sitting up on the couch, a cup in her hands. Clark noticed what appeared to be smelling salts on the table.

“Give me those clothes, dear. I’ll put them in the dryer.”

Lois shot him a look which told him not to argue and he smiled and shrugged, handing them over. 

“How are you feeling?”

“Better,” Lois said. She sipped the tea, making a face. It was clearly a little too sweet for her, but she obviously didn’t want to offend the old lady. 

Clark observed her colour was back, so he figured the tea was helping.

Lois looked at him, then her eyes widened.

“Oh my god, Clark. Did you see him?”

“Who?” he asked, although he knew very well who she was meaning.

“The Guardian. He was there. He saved me!”

“It was a little dark. All I saw was your car about to hit another.”

“Oh,” she said. “I’m sure it was him. I just wish I’d got the chance to thank him. I mean, if he hadn’t been there, who knows what would have happened?” She shuddered visibly.

He nodded, reaching out to take her hand gently. “I’m sure he understands, Lois.”

“I just wish …” she began.

“What?”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.” She looked up and smiled. “Mrs H, I guess in all the excitement I didn’t introduce you. This is Clark. My …” She looked at him with an odd smile. “My boyfriend.”

Clark couldn’t help the answering smile, as well as the warmth that crept into his cheeks. Maybe they weren’t really at the boyfriend-girlfriend stage, even though they had declared their intentions to pursue the relationship, but he liked her using the term.

“Oh, will you look at that. You’re blushing,” Mrs H said. “Well, I must say, Lois, you have certainly picked a good one. Oh dear, he was more worried about you than himself.”

“That’s Clark. He’s sweet like that.” Lois grinned at him and nudged him. “Mrs Henderson has been my neighbour since I moved in upstairs.”

There was a knock on the door and the old lady went to answer it. Clark gazed at Lois, gently stroking her hand. She looked back at him, her own gaze searching. 

Mrs Henderson returned, followed by a tall man with blond hair. He wore a suit with a tan overcoat and carried a notebook.

“Miss Lane? Dan Turpin, Metro PD. I need to ask you a few questions about the accident.”

Lois frowned. “Oh! What happened to my car?”

“It’s been towed to the yard for examination. A witness said they saw a car swerve toward you. Do you remember if it hit you?”

She frowned. “I don’t know. It’s all kind of hazy. They were following me from my friend Oliver’s apartment.”

“Oliver?”

She nodded. “Oliver Queen. He and my cousin are dating.”

Clark looked at her. “They were following you?”

“Can you think of a reason someone would be following you?” Turpin asked.

Lois shook her head. “Not really. I mean, yeah, I’ve been covering stories on Intergang and I had sort of an altercation with Bruno Mannheim a few days ago, but … I don’t know. I just don’t think this is his style.”

Clark was silent as he considered this. He wondered why they would have followed her all the way from Oliver’s apartment and then suddenly decided to force her into an accident. Turpin asked more questions, trying to learn whether Lois had seen the licence plate or anything else she might consider important.

“So the witness said someone stopped the car before it could hit anything. Do you think it was the Guardian?” Turpin asked.

“You’re not going to go after him, are you?” Lois asked. “I mean, he saved my life. Actually, he’s done that a couple of times now.”

The detective shook his head. “No, but I would like to ask him a few questions. It’s possible he could have seen something. I’d like to know how he managed to be in the right place at the right time.”

Lois nodded, clearly relieved. “I’ll see what I can do about getting him to talk to you,” she said.

The other man gathered up his notes and got up to leave. He paused at the door.

“You know, it’s curious.”

“What is?”

“Well, he’s saved your life twice, apparently. The Guardian seems to have a thing for you, Miss Lane.”

Clark frowned at him. “I don’t think that’s true. It’s like you said. Right place at the right time.”

Turpin shrugged and left, giving Lois his card and telling her to call him if she remembered anything else. Lois sat back, looking contemplative.

“Hmm,” she said. Clark looked at her.

“What?”

“Well, maybe Detective Turpin has a point, but, you know, I kind of like having my own personal superhero.” 

It took all of Clark’s willpower not to blush at the comment. Lana had once told him he was such a bad liar it was a wonder people didn’t realise how different he was. Then again, Lana had always been a little critical.

The old lady had been bustling about in the kitchen while Dan had been asking questions, but came back out.

“Would you two like to stay for dinner?” she asked. 

“Uh …” Lois looked questioningly at Clark. “I don’t want to impose,” she said.

“Nonsense,” Mrs Henderson replied. “You’re not imposing. I don’t get a chance to cook for more than myself.”

“What about your grandchildren, Mrs H?” Lois returned. 

“Ah, well, they live in Coast City. I don’t get to see them that often.”

It seemed odd, considering she had clothes which belonged to her grandson, but Clark didn't ask her about it. He felt sympathy for the old lady. She reminded him a little of the customer who used to come in to Nell’s shop. Nell had told him Mrs Kinsey hadn’t been into the shop lately and he’d gone to visit her to check up on her. The woman’s daughter had been at the apartment and told him the old lady was moving in with her and her family in Gotham.

Lois and her neighbour continued to talk, while Clark glanced around the apartment. Sitting on the table next to his chair was a photo in an ornate frame and picked it up. The photo was of a man in his early forties with dark blond hair. He was dressed in khaki pants and shirt, looking like he was in the desert somewhere. Another photo showed the man standing next to another man who was thinner, younger and looked a little nervy. 

“That’s my first husband,” Mrs Henderson said. “Kent Nelson.”

Clark frowned at her. “I’m sorry, I don’t …”

She smiled at him. “It’s all right. Not many people know the story. Kent worked with a group of people who called themselves the Justice Society of America. They were led by him,” she added, nodding at the other man in the photo. “Carter Hall. Carter was an archaeologist, once upon a time.”

“The Justice Society?” Lois asked, coming over to join them. 

The old lady nodded. “They were a group of people with, well, I suppose you would call them powers. They helped people. Until one day …”

“What?” Clark asked.

“Well, no one really knows what happened. They just dropped out of sight. Kent left us. Me and our daughter. I eventually met my second husband, but I never really understood why Kent left or where he went.”

Lois looked at her with sympathy. 

“That’s so sad,” she said. 

Clark shook his head. “Maybe he was trying to protect you from whatever it was that made him leave.”

“Perhaps he was. I will never know,” she said sadly, then lifted her head. “This isn’t getting dinner on.” She turned and went back to the kitchen. 

Clark looked at Lois. He wondered what would cause a man like Kent to leave his wife and child and just disappear. 

“I know what you’re thinking,” Lois said, returning to the couch. She was limping a little, which made him wonder if she had hurt her foot.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

She winced as she put weight on her right foot. “I think I must have done something to my foot while I was in the car.”

She’d probably put her foot down too hard on the brake, trying to stop the skid. Clark knelt on the floor and gently took her shoe off. Sure enough, her foot was a little swollen. Not enough to be a serious sprain, but enough to cause her a little discomfort. He began massaging gently. 

“Ooh, you are so good at that,” Lois replied. 

“So, what were you saying?” he asked, continuing to rub her foot.

“I was just saying, I know what you’re thinking. What kind of person could abandon their wife and child? I mean, I get it. He was trying to protect her from something, but it doesn’t make what he did right.”

Clark frowned up at her. 

“What if he was worried that whatever it was would put her life at risk?” he asked. “I mean, don’t you think …”

“That’s just it, Clark. I mean, when you’re with someone, like in a relationship, part of being in that relationship is accepting them for all their faults, and you know, foibles.”

“That’s kind of the same thing.”

“Don’t correct my grammar,” she told him. 

“That’s not grammar, that’s … ugh, never mind. I’m just … maybe I’m playing devil’s advocate here, but I mean, if I was like, I don’t know, the Guardian, and I had to choose between risking the life of someone I loved and walking away …”

“Don’t tell me you’d walk away, Clark. How is that fair on me?”

He looked at her again. “It’s hypothetical, Lois. I mean, I’m not the Guardian,” he lied.

“I get it. I mean, you don’t really know what you’d do if you were in that situation, because it’s probably not ever going to come up, but still, I’d rather risk everything than end up with nothing. It’s like, well, look at my mom and dad. She must have hated it when he went off on his missions, but she accepted it because she knew that he needed something to come home to. Something that reminded him of the good in the world.”

She chewed on her lip, then sighed.

“You know, I used to hate it. Being dragged around like a piece of luggage. I never thought that my dad cared about me when I was growing up, but now I understand that he was just doing what he had to do. He had to focus on his job otherwise he would have just fallen apart. Guys like my dad, they have to be tough around the men. I mean, sure, they would have understood if he broke, but they’d have respected him less.”

“What are you saying?”

“This whole time, with my dad, I learned a lot of things. I mean, I knew he cared about me when I was a kid, but I just didn’t know how much until the last couple days. And … thing is, I used to think that I couldn’t be like my mom. I didn’t want to be the one left behind. But now I realise it’s not about that. It wasn’t her being left behind. It was her giving him the strength to keep on fighting.”

He knew what she was trying to say, and he appreciated her so much more for it. Growing up, she had had to deal with a lot. In many ways, she hadn’t had a chance to be a kid, because she was too busy trying to be a mother to her baby sister. Her father’s apparent rejection had hurt her deeply, but clearly the last few days spent with him had made her see things in a new light. 

Clark had had his doubts about trying to be the Guardian and have a normal relationship with Lois. Especially when Lana had often told him that it would never be possible for them to have a normal life if he used his abilities. She’d made him choose between her and his desire to help and it had solved nothing. 

***

Lois could only watch as a myriad of expressions played across Clark’s face. She wondered what was going through his mind at that point in time, given what they’d just been talking about. 

Something kept niggling in the back of her mind. As if there was something she knew, but just couldn’t quite access that knowledge. Like a song she knew the lyrics to, but just couldn’t quite get that next line; some mental block was stopping her from getting that last piece. 

“Dinner is ready dears.”

Lois glanced at Clark, who grabbed her shoe and put it on, just as gently as he’d taken it off. She hadn’t even been aware he’d stopped massaging her foot but it had definitely done the trick as she was able to put her weight on it. 

She followed her neighbour to the table, thinking about the old lady’s first marriage and how it had ended. Mrs H didn’t seem to be holding any grudges, which was good, but how sad was it that he had walked away thinking it was for her protection. 

Lois thought about what she had said to Clark. She had resented her father when she was a teenager for choosing his career over his daughters, and that had coloured every relationship she had had. The last thing she had wanted was the same kind of man her father was, but now she understood that it was less about him choosing his career than it was about him trying to do some good. 

Still, it hadn’t been easy for her father, walking away from his family. He’d admitted to her that he regretted some of the things that had happened in the past and if he’d had to do it all over again, he would have made different choices. 

Mrs Henderson had served up what appeared to be a homemade chicken pot pie, which was delicious. Clark was quiet as they ate, but the old lady didn’t seem to notice. 

“I saw you with your father, out walking,” she told Lois.

“Yeah, Daddy stayed with me a couple of days. He’s gone to Edge City to stay with my sister Lucy and my niece.”

“You must miss your sister.”

She nodded. “I do. I mean, we had our moments when we were kids, but yeah, we miss each other like crazy now.”

“And you, Clark? Do you have a brother or a sister?”

He shook his head. “I was adopted as a toddler and my parents died when I was ten.”

The old lady’s face fell. “Oh, dear, I’m sorry,” she said, clearly thinking she had put her foot in it.

“It’s all right. I was raised by my foster mom, Nell.”

“Nell owns a flower shop in town,” Lois told Mrs H. “She’s a nice lady.”

She didn’t want to say anything to the older woman about Clark’s wife and child, thinking it would just stir up some painful memories.

“So what do you do, Clark?” Mrs H laughed. “I’m sorry. I’m a nosy old woman, aren’t I?”

He smiled and shook his head. “No, you’re not. I just started working with Lois at the Daily Planet a few weeks ago.”

“That’s sort of how we met,” Lois explained. “Well, it’s kind of a funny story.” She related the story of the mystery flowers, watching as her boyfriend began to blush furiously. Her friend glanced at Clark, nodding in approval. 

Clark excused himself to go to the bathroom. Mrs H laughed again, a tinkling little laugh that didn’t sound anywhere near as discomfited as her earlier laugh.

“Oh, he’s such a sweet young man,” she said.

Lois smiled back at her. “He’s definitely a keeper.”

“I can see how he cares about you, Lois. I have to admit, I was a little worried about you. Working all the time. It’s not good for a girl your age.”

Lois was hardly a girl, but she didn’t have the heart to correct the old lady. 

By the time dinner was over and the dishes were cleared away, Lois was feeling more than a little tired. While she thought she hadn’t been hurt in the near-crash, she was beginning to feel it more now. Her whole upper body felt bruised, or as if she had worked out at the gym after weeks of inactivity. 

She yawned. 

“I’m sorry,” she said.

Mrs H waved her hand. “Don’t be,” she replied. “You’ve had a bit of a shock. It’s no wonder you’re exhausted.” She glanced at Clark, who nodded.

“I’ll walk you upstairs,” he said.

Lois nodded in thanks and let Clark hold her hand as they walked up the stairs to her apartment, then frowned.

“I left my purse in the car,” she said, unable to believe she had been so careless.

“No, Detective Turpin brought it,” he said. He held up her key ring. “Along with your keys.”

She bit her lip. “Wow, I can’t believe I forgot them.”

“You were distracted,” he said. He gazed at her with concern. “You could have been killed,” he added. 

“Well, thank goodness for the Guardian.”

Clark unlocked the door, his hand at her back to guide her inside.

“Who do you think might have been following me?” she asked Clark as he closed the door behind him.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe it was Mannheim.”

She shrugged. “I guess. It just doesn’t seem like his style.” She frowned. “What if it was Lex? I mean, what if he thought that since he couldn’t win me over he should just get rid of me instead.”

Clark frowned at her. “You really think Lex would do something like that?”

“I don’t know. I’m just … thinking out loud.”

The trouble was, she didn’t think that was Lex’s style either. The man was smart enough to realise that killing a reporter, especially a reporter with the newspaper he owned, was going to be more trouble than it was worth. 

Lois started for the bedroom, moving to take her shirt off.

“Ow!” she complained.

“Lois?” Clark followed her, clearly concerned.

“I’m fine,” she said. “I’m just a bit stiff from the accident.”

He bit his lip, looking her over. She felt a little disconcerted by his stare, as if he was trying to see inside her. 

“You are a little … I mean, you’re probably a little bruised. I guess the Guardian didn’t do too well on that.”

“It’s not his fault,” she said. “I mean, he did save my life. What’s a few bruises compared to, I dunno, a hole in the ground?”

Clark visibly shuddered. “Don’t say things like that.”

She remembered his wife and child and what had happened to them and immediately felt guilty. She closed the gap between them and took his hand. 

“I’m sorry. I guess I forgot about Lana.”

He blinked at her in surprise. “Lana? Oh, no, I was just …” He held her hand, lifting it to lay on his chest. “Lois, it would kill me if anything happened to you. I don’t think I could live with myself.”

If he was anyone else, she would have thought he was laying it on a bit thick, but this was Clark, who was about the sweetest guy she knew. Maybe she hadn’t known him that long, but she already understood that he never said anything he didn’t mean. When he cared about someone, he didn’t do so by half-measures.

“I should let you get some rest,” he said quietly.

She bit her lip. “Stay?” she said.

“I shouldn’t.”

“I just … I don’t want to be alone,” she said, unable to admit to him that the reason she wanted him to stay was in part because she was afraid that whoever had caused that accident knew where she lived and might come back. Lois’ number was unlisted, but that still didn’t stop them using various resources to find her. 

Clark looked thoughtful, then placed a comforting hand on her arm.

“Okay, I’ll stay,” he said. “Why don’t I draw you a bath? It’ll help with the soreness.”

He was right about that, she thought as she lay in the bath ten minutes later. He’d added some bath salts and scented bubble bath which had her so relaxed she could have easily gone to sleep. She let the warm water work its magic on her sore muscles until the warmth was almost gone.

She let the water out and got up, drying herself off and donning pyjamas, wrapping a terry robe around her body before slipping her feet into the comfortable animal slippers Chloe had given her one Christmas. 

Lois walked out, quietly opening the door to the bedroom. She could hear Clark talking through the vent for the air-conditioning.

“Yeah, see what you can find out.” There was a pause. “No, she’s fine. A little bruised.” Another pause. “No, I didn’t invade her privacy. I just x-rayed.”

Lois raised an eyebrow. X-ray?

She opened the bedroom door to find Clark talking on his cellphone. He spotted her and smiled, saying a quick goodbye before switching off the phone.

“I was just talking to Chloe. She heard about the accident and just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

She nodded. “Thanks. I forgot about calling Chloe.” She shrugged. “I’ll talk to her in the morning.”

“She worries,” Clark replied. 

“I guess she does.” She yawned. “I’m beat.”

Clark looked a little uncertain. “Uh, I should probably …”

“Clark, I didn’t ask you to stay so you could sleep on the couch.”

“But you really need your rest.”

She didn’t want to admit that she was more than a little unnerved by what had happened earlier and would feel better if he slept with her, not that she wanted to push him into anything. 

Still, he seemed to understand what she could not say and returned with her to the bedroom. They lay together in her big bed, facing each other. Lois wasn’t sure whether she should kiss him goodnight or just roll over and go to sleep.

Clark made that decision for her, pressing a gentle kiss on her lips. 

“Goodnight,” he said softly.

She smiled and replied, rolling over to her other side, hoping he might wrap his arms around her. She tried not to be disappointed when he didn’t, but he did lay a gentle hand on her waist.

Despite her exhaustion, Lois couldn’t help thinking over the things they’d said that evening as well as what she had overheard. How had Clark known she was bruised and what had he meant by x-ray? Was he one of those meteor infected people Chloe had often talked about?

Just as she started to drift off to sleep, another thought occurred to her.

What if Clark was the Guardian?


	20. Theories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe has some information for Clark and Lois works on some theories of her own.

As Clark stirred the next morning he became aware of Lois lying practically sprawled on top of him, her head on his chest. Her hair was a mass of tangles, one half covering her face. She was snoring lightly. He lay quietly, not sure if he would disturb her by trying to extricate himself from her. Lois snuffled, rubbing herself against him, reminding him a little of a cat he’d once had before his parents had died. She snorted and mumbled something in her sleep. 

His phone vibrated on the night stand beside him and he picked it up to check the screen. Chloe had sent him a text.

Come to Watchtower. Got something for you.

He began to move from the bed, gently pulling away from Lois. She mumbled something again, then looked up, blinking sleepily.

“Wha …”

“It’s just me,” he said. “Go back to sleep.”

“Smallville?”

“Go back to sleep,” he repeated gently. “I’m going to go get us some bagels or something for breakfast.”

“’K,” she replied, rolling over onto her other side and burrowing under the covers. 

Clark grinned as he got up and dressed. Lois would probably kick his butt for it, but he thought she looked adorable. 

He left the apartment, speeding across town to Watchtower.

“Chloe,” he said. 

His friend was standing in the centre of the room, typing on a keyboard. Oliver was lounging on the couch. Clark could see two takeout cups of coffee, one a normal twelve-ounce cup and the other almost double the size. That one had to be Chloe’s, he thought.

Oliver had dark circles under his eyes and was yawning widely.

“You look wrecked,” Clark observed.

“Yeah, that happens when your girlfriend decides to spend all night working,” he replied with a pointed look at Chloe. 

“Yeah, well you would too if you wanted to find out why someone decided to try to kill your cousin,” she shot back. 

Clark frowned at her. 

“How much coffee have you drunk?” he asked, noting that while she also had dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep she seemed a lot more awake than Oliver.

“Not that much,” she returned with what Clark could only interpret as a guilty look.

“Define that much,” he said.

“Three or four, I guess.”

“Try again, babe,” Oliver told her. “Then double it.”

“Six? Of those?” Clark asked, pointing to the tallest cup of coffee. 

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” she said in protest.

“Uh-huh.” He looked at Oliver, who shook his head.

“Don’t look at me. Think she ever listens to me?”

“Anyway, enough about my caffeine addiction. How’s Lois holding up?” Chloe asked.

“Okay, I guess. I left her sleeping.”

“You slept with her?” She looked incredulous, clearly wondering what Clark was doing sleeping with Lois when she had been in an accident.

“She didn’t want to be alone,” he told his best friend. 

“Okay, fine, fine. So I managed to get some images off the street cam. They’re not great, but it was enough to give me a licence plate. Unfortunately, that was a dead end. Plates were stolen.”

“Yeah, there’s a surprise,” Oliver remarked.

“Is there any chatter?” Clark asked.

“Nothing that would pinpoint who was behind it. But what gets me is, if it’s Intergang, why wouldn’t they finish the job?”

“Maybe I got in their way.”

Chloe shook her head. “No, it doesn’t seem right. That car followed her for about five blocks before they made a move. So why then?”

“Maybe they were waiting for the right moment,” Oliver suggested.

“No, it doesn’t make sense. What makes more sense to me is the possibility that it wasn’t really about Lois at all,” she said. “Which suggests to me that it’s nothing to do with Intergang and everything to do with Lex.” She looked at Clark. “There’s a good chance it was a test. For you. Or rather, the Guardian.”

Clark frowned at her. She made a good point. Several good points in fact. 

“You’re assuming they knew I’d be there to see it happening,” he said.

“Not necessarily,” Chloe returned. “Everyone knows the Guardian has a way of learning about these things the moment they’re happening. It could just be coincidence that you happened to be at Lois’ apartment the moment they made the move.”

“You really think that’s likely?” he asked.

His friend studied him for a moment. The truth was, knowing Lex, anything was possible. After all, if Clark was right, Lex had been sending people to investigate both Clark and the farm, hoping to dig up his secrets, not to mention the ship which had brought him to Earth. 

Still, it bothered him. If it really had been a test for him, Lex had used Lois as bait, taking a risk with her life. 

“It’s still only speculation,” Chloe reminded him.

“Was that all you had for me?” he asked.

“No,” she said, moving to another computer. “I’ve been searching for those symbols and I was contacted by someone who used to know Lionel Luthor.” She brought up an old photograph. 

Clark frowned at it. The photo was from the front cover of Time Magazine from back in the seventies, long before Clark had come to Earth. 

“Virgil Swann?”

“Actually, his daughter. Dr Swann died about five years ago. He was in an accident about twenty years ago that left him a tetraplegic. It was assumed that his death had something to do with his injuries but Patricia Swann claims her father was poisoned. We’ll never really know the truth of that. However, Patricia sent me an email asking me why I was looking for those particular symbols, then she told me her father had been working with Lionel Luthor and a number of others including Oliver’s father.”

Clark looked at the blond archer, who was just sprawled on the couch watching Chloe work. It was obvious he knew exactly what Chloe was talking about. Clark assumed Chloe had told her boyfriend everything. 

“Anyway, I also found out that Lionel began a search several years ago looking for the symbols and he apparently found one of the stones your father told you to find.” 

She brought up an image of a black crystal, reminding him of obsidian, with what appeared to be two perpendicular lines with circles on each side making up the glyph. He had no idea what it meant. 

“Lionel found it in a statue of a Mayan rain god in Honduras. From what one of my contacts told me, he was hoping it would have some magical healing properties.”

“To do what?”

“Rumour has it Lionel was diagnosed with liver disease several years ago, and there was no cure.”

“So where is this stone now?” Clark asked.

“One guess,” Oliver spoke up.

Clark groaned. Great. So not only had Lex had a key to the spaceship all this time, but it looked like he had one of the stones. The question was where. Clark was sure if the stone had been in the vault with the key he would have known somehow. Jor-El had told him the stones were designed to activate with an ultra-sonic burst if they were anywhere near a Kryptonian’s energy field. 

Chloe handed him a slip of paper. 

“Talk with Patricia Swann. From what I’ve managed to glean from our few brief emails, she knows more than she’s telling.”

Clark nodded, putting the paper in his pocket. 

“I should get back. I told Lois I was getting breakfast. She’ll probably think I’ve gotten lost or something.”

“Seems like it’s getting pretty serious between you two,” Oliver remarked.

Clark couldn’t help the little smile when he thought of how Lois had referred to him when they’d been with the old lady the night before. Okay, he thought. Maybe it was kind of sappy, but he did get a quiet thrill knowing that was how Lois thought of him. 

“We’re still taking it one step at a time,” he told the other man, before smiling at Chloe. “Thanks for everything you’re doing for me. I really appreciate it.”

“What did I say about never having to say thank you?” She smiled. “The gesture is appreciated.”

He kissed her on the cheek, making her blush. 

“Get out of here, Kent,”

As much as Clark wanted to go across the pond and get Lois some genuine fresh croissants for breakfast, he thought it was better sticking closer to home. He stopped in at a bakery he often used. They made croissants which were very close to those made in France, stuffed full with ham, cheese, the freshest tomato and the crispest lettuce available. They also made great cappuccino, not that Clark drank much coffee, but he knew Lois would appreciate it. 

Lisa, the girl who usually served him when he came in, gave him a bright smile of welcome. Lisa was petite and pretty, with hair a colour that reminded Clark of early mornings when the sun was just rising; a golden colour with just a hint of red. He’d asked her once, not trying to be rude, if that was her natural colour, telling her how pretty it was. The girl’s face had lit up with a pleased smile. She confessed to him that she didn’t receive that many compliments, which he couldn’t understand. 

He’d managed to get the girl’s back story just by listening and gentle enquiry. She was seventeen and trying to put herself through school. Her parents were both unemployed. Clark suspected her father was a drunk while her mother was a drug addict. Lisa had been determined not to go down that path and worked long hours at the bakery just so she could save money for college, which cut into a lot of her study time. Still, she was smart and made fairly good grades. Clark was determined to find some way of helping her get a scholarship and had been meaning to talk to Oliver about it. 

“Clark,” she said. “It’s been ages since you’ve been in.”

“Hi Lisa,” he replied. “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing great! Guess what? I was offered a job working for LeXCorp.”

“What about college?” he asked.

She bit her lip. Clearly something had happened. 

“What is it?” he prodded gently.

“My parents found my savings. They took it all. Every cent.”

“How could they do that?” he said. That was just wrong on so many levels. 

“Because I’m under eighteen my parents can still access my bank account. It was everything I had saved for my tuition.”

It was so unfair, he thought. Why did life have to keep kicking this poor gentle girl in the butt?

“I’m so sorry, Lisa. That really sucks.”

She shrugged. “I’m used to the knocks.”

Still, she shouldn’t have to give up on her dreams, he thought. He chatted with her, keeping his own plans quiet, then began telling her some funny stories he had heard while working at the Planet.

Lisa stepped to the back of the bakery to pull some of the baked goods out of the oven. Clark took the opportunity to make a quick call. 

“Hey, Oliver, I was wondering if you could help me out with something. There’s this girl.”

He began explaining to his friend. Oliver promised he would look into it and see what Queen Industries could do to help her out. 

Happy that he’d managed to at least get the ball rolling, Clark took the croissants and the coffee and thanked Lisa with a smile before leaving the bakery. 

He whistled happily as he made his way back to Lois’ apartment, noting a Porsche parked at the kerb as he walked up the steps. The number plate made it fairly obvious whose car it was.

Lex. Great! 

***

Lois had been having such a wonderful dream. Clark was flying her over the Daily Planet. She could look down and see the spinning globe at least twenty feet below them. The wind whipped through her hair but she felt warm and safe in his arms. He turned his head and smiled at her and she smiled back, knowing as long as he was around nothing bad would ever happen to her. 

She woke with a start, realising someone was knocking at the door of her apartment. Lois rolled over in the bed, wondering who could be at her door at this time of the … She blinked and picked up her phone from the nightstand. Almost eight-thirty. As much as she loved to sleep in on her days off, she rarely slept through her alarm.

The knocking became more insistent.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming!” she called out, grumbling under her breath. 

As she pushed back the bedclothes and started to get out of bed, a twinge of pain in her side reminded her of the bruising from the incident the night before. Which also reminded her that Clark had spent the night. 

She vaguely recalled him saying something about breakfast but she’d been half asleep and it had barely registered. She couldn’t even remember how long ago he had left as she had gone straight back to sleep again.

Grabbing her bathrobe, Lois put it on before stepping on her slippers. Yawning, she slipped them on her feet and padded out into the living room, going to the door. She looked through the peephole, then sighed, unlocking the door and pulling it open. 

Lex turned and looked at her. His eyes gleamed for a second as he took in what she was wearing. Lois fought against the urge to tighten the robe around her.

“Lois. I heard what happened last night. I came to see if you were all right.”

She was tempted to slam the door in his face, but decided against it. Lex was already halfway through the doorway, stepping inside the apartment and moving past her to the kitchen.

“I’m fine,” she said.

She studied his face, hoping for some subtle change in his expression that suggested he might have had something to do with the accident, but couldn’t detect anything. Then again, Lex had always been a smooth liar. 

“You look like you’ve just woken up,” he said.

What’s your point, she wanted to ask, but didn’t, watching as he went to the refrigerator and opened the door, clearly looking for the bottle of juice. 

“I think given what happened last night, I figured I needed a sleep-in.”

“I was concerned when you didn’t come in to work this morning,” Lex continued, putting the bottle of juice on the counter then looking in her cupboards for some glasses. “Where are your glasses?” he asked.

“End cupboard,” she told him. 

“You should have called me,” he said, finding the glasses and pouring juice into them. Lois took her glass, holding it almost gingerly, wondering if perhaps the man had tried to slip arsenic in the juice or something. “I would have taken you home with me and made sure you were properly looked after.”

“I wasn’t hurt,” she told him, lying a little. She really didn’t want Lex’s version of ‘tender loving care’. 

He frowned at her.

“That’s not the version of events I heard,” he replied.

Hmm, and my version has you as the villain of the story, she thought. 

The door opened and Clark came in, holding a paper bag with what appeared to be a little grease spot on the front and a tray holding two takeout cups. She smiled at him.

Lex looked surprised to see him. Lois snorted to herself. Clearly Lex’s spies weren’t that good if he didn’t know Clark had spent the night. Then again, there was that ability to lie smoothly.

“Clark,” he said. “I thought you’d be at work.”

“I called in sick,” Clark said warily. “Lois had a bit of a scare last night so I figured I would keep her company.”

“Really?” the bald man replied with unmistakeable annoyance in his tone. “Well, isn’t that very white knight of you.”

“Had I known you were going to be here, I would have asked for another croissant,” Clark told him, clearly trying to pretend he wasn’t glaring hard enough to set the other man on fire.

“Well, I’ve already eaten breakfast otherwise I would have taken you up on the uh offer,” Lex returned. 

Bet you would, Lois thought. Just what the hell are you scheming now?

“Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you were all right. I’ll tell Perry I’ve given you the day off,” he said, heading for the door. 

“Thank you, Lex,” she said, thinking yeah, how generous. Not!

“Look after her,” Lex told Clark.

“I plan to,” Clark replied, opening the door to let Lex out. 

“I thought he’d never leave,” Lois said as Clark returned.

“Me too,” he replied. 

She watched as he took the promised breakfast from the bag and put them each on plates. They sat at the table.

“Mm, these are delicious,” Lois told him, loving the soft pastry and the buttery taste.

“It’s this local bakery a few blocks from here,” he replied. “I used to go there a lot although since I’ve been working at the Planet I haven’t really been around.”

She listened as he told her about the young girl who worked there. She smiled at his tale. While it was sad, she realised it was just another aspect of the Clark Kent she was coming to know. He seemed to have a way of attracting strays and helping them in some way. 

She wasn’t surprised when he told her he’d called Oliver and asked him to look into some kind of scholarship for the girl. 

The more she began to learn about Clark, the more sense it made that he could be the Guardian. It was just the kind of thing he would do. Clark was the kind of person who couldn’t stand to see any kind of injustice and would want to do something about it. 

Lois went back into her room to dress, noting the purple bruises on her torso. While they hadn’t been obvious the night before they were more than so now. She frowned, thinking about the conversation she’d overheard and how Clark had known she was bruised. She remembered the little slip he’d made before he’d corrected himself.

As much as she wanted to ask him for the truth, she had the feeling he wouldn’t tell her anyway. She didn’t want to push. After the long talk she’d had with her father, she had realised that the fact Clark was holding back on some things was no reason to back off on having a relationship with him. 

Now that she thought she knew exactly what that secret was, she could completely understand. 

The timing of it all made a lot of sense. From the few things Clark had said about his marriage to Lana, Lois wondered if his late wife had been holding him back. Now that she was gone, there was really nothing stopping him from using his abilities. 

Of course, it all was just so much supposition right now, she thought. She really didn’t have any proof that Clark was the Guardian. She would need to do some research to support her hypothesis. 

Clark had cleaned the kitchen when she came out of the bedroom, dressed in casual pants and a soft, flowing top, not wanting to wear anything which might irritate the bruising.

“I have to go to class,” he said, “but I can stay if you need me to.”

It was the perfect opportunity for her to get started on her research, she thought. 

“I’ll be fine,” she said. “I’m just going to check my emails and stuff,” she added, opening up the laptop on the table. 

“Are you sure?”

She smiled up at him. “I’ll be fine,” she repeated. “Really.”

“Okay.” He kissed her cheek. 

She waited until he was gone, then began working. She called on every little tidbit of information she had on the Guardian and matching it up with what she knew about Clark. While they didn’t appear to have much in common on the surface, she soon found a few incidents in Smallville that sounded exactly like something the Guardian would be involved in. 

Clark had lived in Smallville most of his life until about six months after a tornado had caused devastation throughout the town. From what she could recall, Clark’s foster mother, Nell, had met and become engaged to an insurance adjustor, moving them all to Metropolis. 

There had been a few meteor-related incidents after that, but the outcome of those incidents had been completely different from the earlier ones. In most of them, the person who was meteor infected had ended up being shot by the police. 

That was as far as Lois could get on her research as Chloe chose then to stop by. 

“Hey, where’s Clark?” she asked.

“He had class,” Lois told her, hugging her cousin gingerly. Chloe winced in sympathy as Lois felt a twinge of pain from the bruises. 

“Are you okay? Do you need me to get you anything?”

“No. I’m good.”

Chloe made them each a coffee, sitting down at the table.

“So, how are things between you and Clark? I heard he spent the night here.”

“Everything’s fine,” she said non-committally. “And yes, Miss Nosey Pants. Clark did spend the night, but nothing happened. He just stayed with me to make sure I was okay.” She frowned at her cousin. “I’ve been trying to figure out who might have been behind the accident.”

“Well, that’s sort of why I was looking for Clark,” Chloe said. “When he told me what happened I began looking into it. We weren’t able to identify the car that followed you. The plates were stolen.”

“Hmm. Seems a bit elaborate, even for Lex.”

“You think Lex is behind it too, hmm?”

“It makes more sense for it to be him than someone like Mannheim. He was here this morning, trying to make out he heard what happened and was worried about me.”

“Lois, you need to steer clear of Lex. Oliver’s talking to a few of his contacts about your dad’s suspicions and if Lex gets wind of it, he could come after you.”

“That’s the thing. Maybe he already has.”

Chloe shook her head. “No, it’s too soon.”

“So what’s your theory, cuz?”

“What if you weren’t the target at all? Just the bait?”

She frowned at her cousin. “Bait? You mean, the Guardian?”

Well, that did sound like something Lex would do. Especially if he was pissed with her for rejecting him, yet still trying to keep her on side. Of course, it meant something else as well. If the accident had been some kind of a trap for the Guardian, there was a good chance that Lex knew Clark’s secret, or suspected at least. 

There was no way she could confront him with what she suspected now. It looked like the Guardian needed some protection of his own, and she was just the woman to do it.


	21. Visits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark visits New York while Lois visits someone with a connection to Lex

Clark had a little time before class so he decided to call the Swann Foundation, dialling the New York number on his cellphone. The switchboard operator, or whoever he was, was clearly the first hurdle Clark would have to convince to get to talk to Patricia Swann. 

“What is this about?” he asked. “Miss Swann doesn’t agree to see strangers without a good reason. Are you with the media?”

“No,” Clark said, figuring a little white lie wouldn’t hurt. “I just need to see her about a project her father was working on.”

“Dr Swann has been dead for five years.”

“I know that,” Clark replied, trying to be patient with the man, but his probing was starting to get annoying. “This is a personal matter.”

Clearly the man didn’t think this was good enough as he refused to put the call through. Clark knew he didn’t have much choice.

“Look, it’s to do with an email she sent a friend of mine. Chloe Sullivan. And Lionel Luthor.”

“Hold please,” the man said coolly.

There was a loud click then some music began playing. Clark guessed it was from an old CD as it didn’t sound like the tinny muzak that was often played in elevators.

“Mr Kent?” a feminine voice broke in suddenly.

“Miss Swann?”

“Yes. Jake said you were calling about an email to Chloe Sullivan?”

“Yes ma’am. Chloe’s a good friend of mine.”

There was a slight pause. “Well, this isn’t really a matter I’d like to discuss over the phone. Perhaps you would like to come to my office?” she suggested.

“I … I’m in New York now,” he told her, figuring he could skip class, since this was more important. “If you have time …”

There was another short pause. “I can’t right now. I have a meeting shortly, which will take about an hour or two. I could meet with you then. Do you know where the old Manhattan observatory is?”

“Yes,” he said, recalling from what Chloe had told him that the Swann Foundation was based out of Dr Swann’s old observatory in Manhattan. It was not far from Central Park.

“If you can be here around noon, I could spare you about twenty minutes. I have a luncheon to go to at twelve-thirty.”

“Thank you. I’ll see you then.”

“Just give the security guard your name. I’ll call down and let him know to expect you.”

Clark hung up and went to class. He spent the next hour absorbed in learning about ethics from the professor who liked to illustrate his lectures with real-life stories from his work as an investigative journalist with the New Yorker.

He called Lois after class to check up on her, but she seemed a little distracted. Despite being told not to go into work Clark guessed Lois was already digging in to what had happened the night before. He smiled fondly at that. Lois Lane was known as Mad Dog at the Planet and he understood why now. She wasn’t about to let a few bruised ribs slow her down. 

He decided to run to New York rather than fly. He probably could have flown there much faster, but he was still a little unsure about his flying ability and figured running would be safer. He couldn’t help but think of a tv series his dad had enjoyed watching, although they had been re-runs. The main character had been given super powers through a suit, but somehow just couldn’t seem to get the hang of flying and ended up crashing most of the time. He wondered what his parents would have thought of him flying now. 

The security guard gave him a temporary pass and he entered the elevator, keying in the code he’d been given to send the car up. He queried to himself why the necessity of security but then remembered Chloe had told him Patricia suspected her father’s death was nothing to do with the injuries he’d suffered. 

A woman greeted him as the elevator doors opened. She was aged in her late thirties. Clark guessed she was an assistant as his research had told him Patricia was around the same age as Lex. 

“Follow me, Mr Kent,” she said. 

He complied, keeping his strides shorter so as not to overtake the woman. It was a short walk along a wide corridor to double doors. The woman opened the doors and stood back, allowing Clark to enter. She closed the doors behind him, leaving Clark alone.

Patricia’s office was on the top floor of the observatory. Most of the building had been closed for years from the looks of things, but it seemed the late scientist’s daughter had at least restored some of the artifacts contained in the now defunct facility. Clark wandered through the huge chamber, curious as to why Patricia had chosen to use this area as her office.

A woman stood looking out the glass window at the streets below. She had her body half-turned toward him. She was pretty, with dark blonde hair and a willowy figure. She was around the same height as Lois, although Lois’ build made her seem taller.

The woman turned to look at him, her blue eyes immediately drawing his gaze.

“Hello Clark,” she said. 

“Miss Swann.”

“Please, call me Patricia.”

He smiled tentatively at her. “Uh, you have an interesting, um, office.”

“It was my father’s,” she replied, walking over to join him. She was wearing three-inch heels which brought her to a height just below his jaw. “He was forever trying to see if there really was life beyond our own solar system. I’m afraid he died never really knowing if he’d achieved it or not.”

“I thought he had,” Clark responded. “At least, that’s what Chloe implied. She mentioned something about a group of people.”

“Veritas,” Patricia told him. She moved to a bookshelf and picked up what looked like a journal, slipping something from the pages and handing it over.

Clark looked at it. Dr Swann was in the middle of a small group. Clark recognised Lionel from the few photographs he’d seen of Lex’s father. He didn’t recognise the man standing to the left of Dr Swann, but he did recall seeing the man on the scientist’s right in a photo in Oliver’s clock tower. 

“Is that Oliver Queen’s father?” he asked.

“You know Oliver?”

Clark nodded. “He’s a friend.”

“Has Oliver told you how his parents died?”

Oliver had related the story of how his parents had left Star City on their jet for a business trip to South Korea, only for their plane to go missing. A few years later, when Oliver had been marooned on an island, he had come across the wreckage of the plane and found his parents’ bodies. Or what was left of them at least.

“My father believed Lionel Luthor had their plane sabotaged.”

“Are you saying Lionel caused their deaths?”

“You don’t seem surprised.”

“I never met the man,” he told her, “but I know his son. If Lionel was half as ruthless as Lex …”

Patricia nodded. “Chloe must have also told you what I believed about my own father’s death.”

“She said you believe he was poisoned. What could someone like Lionel or Lex have to gain from your father’s death?”

“I believe it had everything to do with Veritas and its purpose.”

“Which was?”

She studied him for a long moment, gazing at him with a pensive expression. 

“We’ll get to that. First, why do you need to know?”

He bit his lip. He couldn’t exactly tell her who he really was. He’d debated whether to lie and say he was working on a story, but then she might not be too happy at the supposed deception. 

“Are you a reporter?” she asked.

He found himself blushing.

“Uh, well, sort of.”

“Sort of?” she said, her blue eyes glinting in amusement. 

“Um, I’m an intern, although I don’t know how much longer that will be.”

“For?”

“The Daily Planet.”

“So this is for a story?”

“Well, uh, it’s some background research for something I’m working on,” he told her. “Your dad’s name came up to do with something I’m working on from my hometown.”

“Your hometown?”

“Smallville.”

She frowned. “I see.” She turned away. “Well, I really don’t know how I can help you.”

“How do you know your dad was poisoned? From what I read, the injuries he got in his accident could have eventually caused his death.”

Patricia sighed. “That’s the problem. I believe it was meant to look that way.”

“But why? Your father was already … I mean, he …”

“He was already dying,” she finished for him. “But I believe whoever killed him did so because they feared he would reveal the truth about Veritas.”

Clark bit his lip. Veritas was Latin for truth. What could they possibly have been studying that could be so dangerous? 

“What is Veritas? I mean, I know what it means, but …”

She shot him a look as if to say: are we really going to do this dance again? She turned away, sighing, and was silent for a few moments. Then she turned and gazed at him with a worried expression.

“You said you’re an intern at the Daily Planet?”

He nodded.

“Doesn’t Lex own the Planet?”

“Yeah.”

“Get another job. Stay away from the likes of Lex Luthor. You cannot trust him.”

“I know. Believe me, I know.”

“Then why stay?”

How did he answer that? It wasn’t just about the job. Sure, being a reporter would help him in the long run, since he would be able to hear what was going on in the city better than just placing himself in a sort of crows’ nest above the streets. Part of it was also making sure Lois didn’t get hurt. If what Chloe believed had been behind last night’s ‘accident’ was true, then Lois was more in danger than ever. Since she’d started writing stories about him, or rather, the Guardian, that made her a target. 

There were times when he wondered whether he should tell her the truth about him. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her. It was more that he thought she would be safer. Maybe she wouldn’t take so many risks.

Oh, who was he kidding? Of course she would. She’d been taking risks long before he’d come on the scene, if her previous forays into Intergang territory were any indication. 

Patricia was gazing at him with a curious expression. He looked back at her, not sure what she wanted from him. He couldn’t exactly tell her he was the Guardian of Metropolis. 

She spoke after what seemed like an interminable silence. 

“You know, my father once told me something. Despite the power of the sun, it’s always night on half the planet.”

Clark frowned at her. “What does that mean?”

“It means that where there is light, there is also darkness. Where there are good people there are also bad. People who will use others’ abilities for their own darker purposes.”

His frown deepened. Did she know the truth about him? He’d tried not to give himself away, but maybe he had given off some signal. Did he do that with everyone? With Lois? He hadn’t always been careful around her, mostly because when he was with her, he felt more free to be himself, which was kind of odd, given he kept most of himself hidden. 

“I’m sorry, but I really have to leave now for this luncheon,” Patricia said regretfully, as the assistant came in and stood watching them.

“Wait. What does what you just said have to do with Veritas? And your father?”

“I really am sorry,” she said with a soft smile. “I really would like to talk some more but I’m afraid my schedule is full for the next week.” She rolled her eyes and grinned at him. Clark snickered. For a woman as wealthy as she was, she didn’t seem to have any airs. 

He could understand her need to know more about him. Whatever Veritas was, it seemed Lionel or Lex had actually killed for it. 

***

Lois entered the deli and looked around, frowning as she did so. She couldn’t see the person she had come to meet. There was a throng at the counter. Lois considered herself reasonably tall, but even she couldn’t see over the crowd as they bullied the girl who appeared flustered, trying to figure out who was next. 

“Take a number,” she muttered. She’d worked in a service job and had hated every minute of it. Customers could be so rude, she thought. 

“Lane!” 

She looked up, seeing a man beckoning her from behind the counter. He wasn’t tall, for a guy. He had short, dark hair that was curly enough to be wiry and big - what Lois liked to call googly - eyes that seemed to bulge from below his brow. 

“Shorty!”

He snorted. “Lemme take care of these asshats and I’ll be right with you.”

A few of the customers heard the insult and began to complain, but ‘Shorty’ just gestured with his hand. 

“Don’t like it, there’s the door sunshine,” he told one customer. “Don’t let it hit your ass on the way out.” He added a glare for effect. “And be nice to Emily. She’s my sister. Actually,” he said in an aside to Lois, “she ain’t, but they don’t need to know that.”

Emily grinned at him as he barked out orders for the customers to line up in an orderly fashion. Before long the line was cleared and he came out from behind the counter, wiping his hands on a damp towel. 

“I tell ya, this job would be great if it weren’t for the customers,” he said, gesturing toward a table in the corner of the delicatessen. Lois followed him, sitting down opposite him. He eyed her keenly. “You know, for someone who almost ended up on a slab last night, you sure look good.”

“Tell that to my ribs,” she returned, looking her friend over. 

She’d met Shorty while still a student at Kansas State. Back then, he had just been an average joe trying to eke out a living after having spent years in and out of prison. She had met him through the uncle of a fellow student, who had been an ex-con. Lois had learnt that Shorty had made a deal with the prosecution on a case, becoming an informant for the police for a reduced sentence. 

When Lois had needed some colour for a story, she had asked Shorty, promising to keep his name out of it. He’d been providing her with information ever since and had helped him get the job managing the delicatessen. 

“How did you know about it?” she asked.

He raised an eyebrow. “You kidding? Everyone who’s anyone knows.”

“Rumour has it that it wasn’t Intergang.”

Shorty shook his head. “No way. Ugly ain’t got the cojones.”

She frowned at him. Chloe had already filled her in but she wasn’t sure she was ready to believe that Lex had been the one behind the ‘accident’, instead of ‘Ugly’ Bruno Mannheim. Even if it had been a set-up for the Guardian.

“Good thing the Guardian was there,” Shorty told her. 

“Somebody told me it was a set-up for him.”

The man nodded. “Yeah, I’d buy that. Word is somebody’s out for the Guardian’s blood.”

“Why?”

Her friend shrugged. “Who the hell knows?”

“What do you know about the Guardian?”

Shorty shook his head. “About as much as anybody else, which isn’t a lot. You probably know more, since you’ve written a few stories.”

“So, no one knows who he is?” she asked, relieved that Clark’s secret identity seemed to be intact.

“I guess people got their suspicions. I mean, he ain’t no ordinary guy, that’s for sure. Where he got those powers of his from, no one knows.”

She bit her lip. “What do you know about meteor rock?”

“As in?”

“There’s this stuff that people think changes anyone who’s exposed.”

“So you thinking the Guardian is one of them?”

“It would make sense, wouldn’t it?” she asked, still not quite sure she believed it.

Everything she had heard about the people given strange abilities by the meteors, all of them appeared to have only one unique ability. Which made her wonder if Clark’s abilities were meteor-related. She was sure she didn’t really know the scope of his powers. All she had surmised so far was that he could move fast and was incredibly strong. He also seemed to have the ability to hear about things from miles away. Which made her wonder where his powers really came from. 

“I dunno, Lane. Then again, I don’t know much about these meteor things. Know who you should talk to though.”

“Who?”

“Guy named Sinclair. He used to work for Luthor back in the day, but quit when he couldn’t deal with Luthor’s obsession with the rocks. He used to study them.”

“Where can I find him?”

Shorty gave her an address. She knew it well. It was an old building in Suicide Slums. It was a place where the residents had chosen to ‘disappear’. Most of them were ex-cons trying to avoid trouble with the law, while others had their own reasons for disappearing. If Sinclair had taken this path, then clearly something he’d seen or done had scared him badly enough to do so.

Lois caught a cab and ordered him to drive her deep into Suicide Slums. She realised as she began to recognise the neighbourhood that the building wasn’t far from Clark’s. She wondered if it was one of the buildings earmarked for the redevelopment project currently being touted as the ‘best thing since sliced bread’ by the mayor. 

Remembering that reminded her of Clark’s upcoming eviction. She wanted to dig a little deeper into that and try to find out why the building had been bought so quickly, although if she had to guess, she figured a certain bald-headed billionaire was behind it. Lex might think he was good at hiding his emotions, but she had seen the look he’d given Clark that morning. Lex was clearly jealous of her new relationship, even though there had never been anything between them to cause that jealousy.

At least, as far as she was concerned. Lois wondered if perhaps she had been giving out signals which Lex had interpreted to his own liking. She had only gone along with his requests to escort him as she had wanted to keep him happy. He’d never actually come out and said that her job was at stake if she refused him, but it still worried her. 

“You sure you want to stop here, lady?” the cab driver said uneasily.

“Yes,” she replied, handing him enough for her fare and a tip.

“Your funeral,” he responded, barely waiting long enough for her to alight from the cab before taking off with a squeal of tyres.

She stood on the sidewalk, watching the cab skid on the slick road. It had started raining again earlier but the driver seemed to be in too much of a hurry to get away.

Sighing, she made her way to the ten-storey building. Like Clark’s, it was old and dilapidated. The paint on the window frames had peeled back so much she could see the wood underneath. The whole building looked to be on a lean. How anyone could live in such conditions she didn’t know. 

She climbed the rickety staircase to the tenth floor, avoiding the trash that littered each step, not sure what she would find beneath. There was no lift; not that she had been keen to test that out anyway. 

As much as she hated the idea of people being kicked out of their homes, she knew the whole area needed redeveloping. Every building was a prime example of this one. Well past their use-by dates. 

It took a few minutes for her to reach the top floor. As she reached the top landing, she sensed eyes on her and turned her head to look down the corridor. A man stood watching her, his expression curious, but not threatening. Like his surroundings, he was filthy.

“Got a smoke, lady?” he asked.

“No.”

He uttered something which she took to be a curse as she passed him. Lois ignored him to knock on the door of the former Luthorcorp researcher’s apartment. After about a minute, she knocked again. There was the sound of movement from inside, then the door opened a crack. A man with thinning hair peered out, looking uneasily.

“Yes?” he said.

“Dr Sinclair?”

He shook his head. “Don’t know anyone by that name.”

“You’re not the Dr Sinclair who used to work for Lex Luthor?” she asked.

His expression changed and his eyes widened, but he still tried to close the door on her. Lois thrust her hand in the small gap, knowing she was risking him breaking her wrist.

“My name is Lois Lane. I need to talk to you about meteor rocks.”

“Lois Lane? Aren’t you that reporter?”

She pressed her shoulder against the door before he could try closing it again and pushed her way inside. The man stared at her as she faced him, allowing the door to click gently shut behind her. 

She looked him over. He was probably in his early forties when he’d worked for Lex and from what her friend had told her, it was about five years since then. Yet his face had the greyness and the lines of a man much older. His face had aged at least twenty years in those five. Either that or he was ill.

“You shouldn’t be here, Miss Lane.”

“I needed to talk to you,” she said. “I need to know about the meteor rock.”

He started to talk, then choked and began coughing, pulling a dirty handkerchief from his pocket and coughing into it. Lois couldn’t help but notice spots of blood.

“Dr Sinclair?”

“I don’t go by that name anymore,” he said, resuming coughing once more.

Lois took the time to look around her. The man was living in total squalor. She could see cockroaches crawling over the walls in the kitchen and swallowed. The whole apartment was neglected and filthy, but she could understand why. The man was sick. Sick enough that he should be in a hospital, although she doubted he had insurance. 

“You’re sick,” she said.

“Cancer,” he replied, his voice hoarse from the coughing fit. “The meteor rock.”

She frowned at him. “The meteor rock caused this?”

He nodded. “I worked with it for about two years. Studied it extensively. Knew of another researcher who developed some neurological illness. Doctors said it was mineral poisoning. Meteor rock gives off a low-level radiation. Not enough to make you sick if you’re around it only briefly, but get it in your blood …”

“How did it get in your blood?” she asked.

He explained, in between bouts of coughing, about the research. Lex Luthor had wanted to see the effects of the meteor rock and had brought in ‘volunteers’ to be used as guinea pigs. One of the meteor-infected had gone on a rampage, taking hostages. Sinclair had been injected with a serum of the refined meteor rock. Unlike the others, he hadn’t become psychotic and didn’t seem to show any unique abilities.

Sickened by the experiments, Dr Sinclair had left Luthorcorp, but not without being pursued by Lex, who wanted to know why the researcher hadn’t developed abilities and hadn’t become psychotic. 

Which was why he had chosen to go into hiding and live in such conditions. Less than a year after he’d done so, he’d learnt he had cancer.

Lois returned to her apartment feeling sorry for the man and wondered what she should do. The only thing she could think of doing was calling Oliver and asking him to help the man out. Get him treatment. Do something. 

Clark had left a message on her voicemail telling her he would try to come by later, promising to bring something to eat. Lois sat down in front of the television to watch the news, only to stare in horror and sympathy as an image of the building she had left not an hour ago flashed on the screen.

She watched in growing alarm as she heard the reporter tell the audience a man had been found dead in his apartment. Authorities, he said, were calling it a suicide. The victim was Dr Sinclair. 

She had no time to reflect on the poor man’s fate as the news anchor appeared on the screen.

“In other news, New York authorities have identified the woman whose body was found in the Hudson river late this afternoon.”

Clark came in, carrying bags of what looked like takeout. He paused to look at the screen.

“The victim has been identified as Miss Patricia Swann, daughter of the late scientist and philanthropist Virgil Swann. Miss Swann ran the Swann Foundation, a charitable organisation …”

Lois heard Clark gasp and drop the bags of takeout. She turned to look at him. His face was ghostly pale.

“Clark?”


	22. Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark and Lois have their first official date.

Clark stared at the screen in shock. How could that be, he thought when he’d just talked to her that afternoon. As he listened, he realised she must have been killed not long after she’d left for the luncheon.

“Clark?”

He looked at Lois, who had got up from the chair. She was gazing at him worriedly.

“Do you know that woman?” she asked.

“I … I was talking to her, about a story I’m working on,” he stammered. “I can’t believe …”

She nodded, then picked up the bags. “I’m sorry,” she said.

He shook his head. He had hoped when he’d left that he would have had another chance to talk to Patricia, maybe get some idea of what the woman had known about Veritas. Someone had taken away that chance.

There was nothing he could do about it except talk to Chloe. He wasn’t ready to share the information with Lois yet

“How … how are you feeling?” he asked as Lois took the cartons of Chinese food out of the bag and put them on the counter.

“Still a little sore,” she said. “But I’ll be okay. This is a lot of food,” she remarked looking at the cartons.

Clark had bought a selection, not sure what Lois liked. He had considered going all the way to China for some authentic food but decided against it.

“I got an assortment,” he told her. “I wasn’t sure what you liked.”

She smiled briefly at him. “I’ll eat just about anything,” she replied. “I’m not a fussy eater.”

“Anything?” he asked, leaning on the counter to look at her.

“Except snails, and that is a story you will not get to hear, Mr Kent.”

He tried for a pout. “Well, that’s not fair, now that you’ve piqued my curiosity.” He continued to gaze at her until she relented, sighing.

She shook her head. “There’s really not much to tell. My dad was stationed in Germany and I went with some friends to France for a long weekend. They dared me to try some escargot. I ate it but then I found out exactly what it was. I couldn’t get to the ladies’ room fast enough. My friends thought it was a huge joke.”

Clark nodded in sympathy. That must have been humiliating for her.

“I’m sorry your friends were such idiots.”

She shrugged. “They weren’t any great loss. You should have seen my dad though. He was furious with me. I was barely fourteen and I’d run off to another country without so much as a by-your-leave.”

“I imagine he was pretty worried.”

“Hmm, I tended to get in trouble a lot when I was a teenager.”

“I can’t imagine that,” he said, meaning it. She seemed so serious now.

“Oh trust me, I was quite the rebellious kid.” She bit her lip. “Sometimes I look back at that Lois and think about how stupid she was.”

“I wouldn’t say stupid. I mean, we all do things that might look bad at the time, but …”

She snickered. “Yeah, right. I bet you were the proverbial boy scout.”

Clark shook his head. There had been times when he had acted out, like the time he had bought a class ring, despite Nell telling him he shouldn’t. The stone in the ring had turned out to be red meteor rock. It had taken a few days and Pete and Lana using green meteor rock before they’d managed to get the ring off him and bring him to his senses.

Nell had grounded him for a week for that.

They’d had their share of fights. He’d wanted to join the football team at Metropolis High but Nell had been against it. He’d tried out anyway but the coach had told him he couldn’t let him on the team.

The worst fight he’d had with his foster mother was when she found out he and Lana had been sleeping together.

“Nell wasn’t happy when she found out about me and Lana. I mean, she knew we were dating but she didn’t know we were sleeping together. She hit the roof when Lana got pregnant and we told her we were going to get married.”

Lois grimaced. “Ouch!”

He nodded. “Yeah. She thought we were too young and looking back, I think she was right. I sometimes wonder if Lana would be alive if we hadn’t got married.”

She frowned at him. “I don’t get it. Why would that have mattered?”

“We’d been fighting. She was leaving the day she was killed. I don’t know if it was for good or whether she just needed space, but …”

“Clark, you can’t blame yourself for that. You two might not have gotten married but she might have still ended up being killed.”

He bit his lip. Nell had always told him he tended to carry the world on his shoulders. The one thing he’d always thought was that he had these strange abilities for a reason. To help others. It still hurt that even with his abilities there were some things he couldn’t prevent. Like his parents. Like Lana. Like Patricia Swann.

Lois touched his cheek. He looked at her.

“You can’t take all the miseries of the world on your shoulders,” she said. “Sometimes, there are things you can’t change, no matter what. Do you think I don’t wish I could go back in time and maybe somehow prevent my mom dying? Do you think I don’t wonder sometimes if I’d been a better daughter that she would still be alive?”

“But your mom had cancer,” he pointed out.

She shook him. “Which is exactly my point. You can’t keep blaming yourself for things that happened in the past. The best you can do is move forward and honour your parents and Lana, and your daughter, by doing what they would have wanted for you, by creating a good life for yourself. I know my mom would be so proud of me for what I’m doing now, just like my dad is.”

“How do you know just the right thing to say?” he asked, warmed by her comforting words.

“It’s a gift,” she replied. “C’mon, I’m starving.”

Together they took the food to the table, using chopsticks to dig into the cartons.

“So what did you do today?” he asked, hoping she got plenty of rest.

“Oh, I just did some work on the laptop. Didn’t really do anything energetic.”

Why did he get the feeling she wasn’t being entirely honest about that? Still, he didn’t really want to get into an argument with her over not taking it easy like she should have done. The one thing he admired about Lois was she wasn’t one to sit around and wait for something to happen.

They spent the evening watching an old movie on cable. Lois cuddled up beside him, her eyes on the screen but he was given the impression she wasn’t really watching the movie.

He wanted to kiss her but wasn’t sure if it was appropriate. Sure, they’d gone out to a movie together, had dinner at a diner and he’d spent the night with her, but they hadn’t really gone out on what he would call a date.

“So, uh, tomorrow’s Saturday,” he said.

She turned her head to look at him. “Gee, imagine that.”

He rolled his eyes and snickered. “What I meant is, since neither of us have to work, I was wondering what your plans were.”

“You asking me out on a date, Kent?”

“Well, considering you told your neighbour I was your boyfriend …” he reminded her.

It was her turn to roll her eyes. “Yeah, I knew that would come back to bite me.”

“Lois …”

“I’m just messing with you,” she said with a grin. “What do you have in mind?”

“Do you know where Hickory Lane is in Smallville?”

“No, but I bet I could find it. Why?”

“I thought I’d show you around the farm where I grew up. If that’s okay.”

She smiled and kissed his cheek. “I’d love to see where you grew up,” she told him.

He smiled back at her. “Great.” He got up from the couch and she frowned at him.

“You’re leaving?”

“Um, yeah. It’s getting a little late.”

She didn’t look happy at that, standing up and moving to intercept him before he got to the door. “I thought you would have, um stayed.”

“Do you want me to?”

“Do you want to?”

“I asked you first, Lois.”

“I asked you second.”

Good grief, they’d be going at this all night at this rate. “Lois, just answer the question. Do you want me to stay?”

She chewed on her lower lip, then nodded. “Yes, I want you to stay.” She sighed. “Oh god, does that sound needy?”

He kissed her. “No,” he said. “You had a pretty traumatic experience yesterday. I’m not surprised you’re feeling a little anxious.”

“Then stay, please.”

Just as he let her take his hand and lead him back to the couch, he heard the sound of an alarm. It was difficult to determine exactly what the alarm was, since it seemed a fair distance away, but he knew it was something he couldn’t ignore. The question was, how did he explain that to Lois, knowing she needed him too?

“Tell you what, there’s this place a couple of blocks from here that makes the most amazing cannoli. How about I go out and get some?”

Lois grinned at him. “You’re spoiling me Clark Kent.”

He kissed her again. “I’ll be back soon. Promise.”

He left the apartment and sped down the stairs out into the street. He turned his head, listening for the alarm. He could hear frightened voices, all jumbled together. Clark looked around, quickly determining that no one would be watching and took off into the air.

He smelled it at the same time he saw it. An old tenement building, not too far from his own, was on fire. There wasn’t time for him to change into his Guardian outfit. As he closed in on the building, he saw at least four people were trapped by flames on the fifth floor.

He flew through a window, barely able to see in the darkness. When he was sixteen, he’d had an accident which had caused him to lose his vision for a few days. Being blind had been both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because he’d learnt to use his other senses and at the same time his super-hearing had developed. Yet it had also been a curse for the same reason. It had taken him a day or two to learn to focus that hearing.

He recalled those lessons now, tuning out the sound of the roaring flames, focusing only on the voices.

“It’s all right,” he called. “I’m here to help you.”

He moved forward as quickly as he was able, but the trapped people seemed so frightened even he failed to get through to them.

Suddenly a voice spoke in what sounded like Spanish. Clark had studied some of the language in school so was able to figure out the person was telling the people it was all right. That help was here. Now Clark understood why he couldn’t get through to them. None of them spoke a word of English.

The voice continued speaking to them in Spanish. Clark squinted, trying to peer through the darkness. The flames were getting closer and he knew there wasn’t much time. The people would die of smoke inhalation before the flames got to them.

“Help me get these people out,” the voice, which Clark now realised was Oliver’s, called.

He sucked in a breath and blew hard. The smoke cleared long enough for him to see it was a small family of four. The parents were cowering against the wall, doing their best to protect the two young children. He turned to Oliver.

“You get the children. I’ll get the parents.”

Without hesitation, Oliver gathered up the two small children, speaking to the parents. Clark wrapped his arms around the two adults, then turned and ran down the stairs at super speed, not trusting his ability to fly with the couple in his arms. He left them as close to the paramedics as possible without his face being seen and turned. Oliver was turning the children over to the emergency staff.

Clark quickly checked the rest of the floors of the ten-storey building, relieved to note that everyone else seemed to have got out okay. Oliver clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“There isn’t anyone else in there. I checked.”

“Thanks for your help in there.”

His friend shrugged. “Just doing what I can. Chloe needs to talk to you.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m guessing it’s about Patricia Swann. I’m staying at Lois’ tonight.”

Oliver arched an eyebrow at him. “Again? You two aren’t wasting any time, are you?”

He shook his head. “She had a pretty traumatic night last night.”

“And you want to be there to comfort her.”

“She asked me, Oliver. Not the other way around.”

His friend raised his hands. “Okay, I’ll back off. But you might want to do something about your clothes. I mean they stink of smoke. Lois is going to sense something’s up if you go back to her place smelling of smoke.”

Clark realised his friend was right. Sh!t!

***

Lois had settled back on the couch and was channel surfing, pressing random buttons on the remote trying to find something to watch while she waited for Clark to get back. His sudden desire for cannoli seemed a little suspect to her but she wasn’t going to question it.

She couldn’t help thinking over the small argument. Well, it wasn’t an argument really. She wondered if she had sounded a little too needy but after what had happened the night before, she hadn’t wanted to be alone. She wasn’t used to feeling so rattled but the ‘accident’ had definitely rattled her.

An image flashed on the tv screen of a fire in a building as she pressed the button on the remote, changing to another channel. She frowned and went back to that channel, watching with a growing unease as she saw the flames engulfing the building. It looked way too familiar.

The anchor woman gazed at the screen.

“We have very little information to hand on the blaze except that we believe both Green Arrow and the Guardian of Metropolis have managed to rescue a young family of illegal immigrants. We’ll have more on this story as it comes to hand.”

Well, no wonder Clark had practically sped out of here, she thought. He must have heard the alarm. She wondered if he’d taken the time to change into his black Guardian clothes or if he’d gone in his normal clothes. Either way, he would have to come up with some excuse. She knew the shop he’d talked about and it was only a couple of blocks away. Even if he was walking he’d still only be away twenty minutes at the most.

She continued watching the newsbreak, hoping there would be further information in the bulletin. She tried not to glance at the clock, but found herself checking the time every couple of minutes. Twenty minutes slowly slipped by and he hadn’t returned.

The anchor woman once more appeared on the screen.

“We can now bring you an update on this breaking story. Our reporter, Linda Lake, is on the scene. Linda, what can you tell us about this fire?”

“All we know at this point is that the fire started in this high-rise tenement in Suicide Slum at about seven o’clock this evening. It is in fact the same building where just today a man’s body was found in his tenth floor apartment. Investigators are unable to draw any conclusions at this stage.”

“What about the reports that the Guardian was there?”

“Yes Carmen, we believe the Guardian and the Green Arrow were both on the scene. Emergency workers reported that the Guardian saved the lives of two adults and Green Arrow saved two young children. Neither one of them have stuck around. We haven’t been able to speak to the victims yet as they were taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.”

“Was anyone else hurt?” Carmen asked.

“No, thankfully no one else was caught in the blaze. This is Linda Lake, reporting from Suicide Slum.”

Lois frowned at the television. She didn’t need an investigator to tell her that this had been no coincidence. Someone had set the fire to destroy any evidence of foul play in Dr Sinclair’s death, she was sure of it. They’d risked the lives of innocent people to do so. It told her that the man’s death had definitely not been a suicide.

She heard the sound of a key turning in the lock and glanced at the clock. Clark had been gone at least forty minutes. She bit her lip, wondering what she was going to say to him.

He came in, holding a paper sack.

“Cannoli,” he said, holding it up.

She looked him over. He’d definitely changed his clothes, although they looked very similar to what he’d been wearing when he’d left the apartment. The t-shirt was white, like the other one, but she noticed there was what appeared to be an oily stain on the front of the shirt. The other one hadn’t had that. He was wearing jeans which also looked similar and it was a lot harder to tell whether he’d changed them or not.

“There was a line,” he said. “Must be the weather.”

“Did you hear there was a fire in Suicide Slum?” she asked, turning her head to watch as he put the bag on the counter and took out the small plastic container. His hand seemed steady.

“No, I didn’t,” he replied. “Was anyone hurt?”

“No. Well, there was a couple and two children who were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation. The Guardian saved them. So did Green Arrow. I guess that means they’re working together now?”

“Sure sounds like it,” he said, bringing in the container and sitting down with her. “Cannoli?”

They ate the treat while watching the news bulletin. The anchor, Carmen Alvarado, updated them again on the blaze but there was really nothing new. Lois glanced at Clark, watching his face as the reporter confirmed the Guardian had been there but his expression was neutral. If anything, she thought it should have shown at least a casual interest but there was nothing.

She found herself yawning a couple of hours later, more than ready for bed. She quickly showered, checking the bruises on her torso in the mirror in the bedroom. She grimaced. She was still black and blue.

“Those look as if they still hurt.”

Lois started, whirling to look at Clark. “Don’t do that!” she exclaimed.

“Sorry. I just …” He walked slowly over to her. Lois was well aware of her nakedness as he reached out and gently touched the bruises. By rights she should have kicked him out. Their relationship status on Facebook might have changed, but that didn’t mean she was ready for him to see her naked. So why was she just standing there letting him see her in all her bruised and naked glory?

“Uh … I just got out of the shower,” she said.

“I know. I …” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t …”

He clearly hadn’t thought beyond checking on her and judging from the blush staining his cheeks he was a little embarrassed. As he turned to leave the room, she grabbed his hand.

“Clark.”

He looked down at her, his expression unreadable. She slid her hand up his arm, resting it on his bicep, looking up at him. He seemed hesitant, his gaze locked on her lips as if he wanted to kiss her but not sure if she would welcome the kiss. Lois closed the small gap between them, tilting her head and pressing her lips to his.

Suddenly it was as if that small action had opened a floodgate and he was kissing her back as if he was drowning and she was his saviour.

“God, Lois,” he said as they separated. “I … I haven’t … there hasn’t been anyone since Lana.”

“I know,” she said quietly. She sensed his anguish, his uncertainty. He was afraid but of what she couldn’t be sure.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again, not caring that she was naked. She pressed her body close to his, felt the need in him as the kiss became more passionate.

She didn’t object as he lifted her in his arms, taking her to the bed and laying her down gently. He left her for a moment, kicking off his shoes and undoing the belt on his jeans before stripping off his t-shirt. He returned to the bed, gathering her in his arms, kissing her lips, then her cheeks, his hands brushing the damp hair off her face.

Lois became lost in the sensation as he kissed below her ear lobe, her body feeling so alive as his mouth brushed a spot that seemed to hit every nerve. She moaned softly, wanting more, despite the bruises, despite the soreness in her muscles.

Clark, however, seemed to come to his senses. He lifted his head and gazed at her, his expression almost dazed as if he was just waking from a dream. He began stroking her body, his touch gentle as he traced the bruises.

“Clark?” she said.

He shook his head. “I want to, you know I do, but I don’t want to hurt you. You’re still healing from the accident last night.”

She nodded, reluctantly agreeing with him. She was not up to anything else. Besides, she thought. They hadn’t even had their first real date.

He pulled her close, wrapping an arm around her and holding her in a loose embrace.

“Go to sleep,” he said softly. “I’ll keep you safe.”

She closed her eyes, knowing he would do just as he said he would. As she drifted off to sleep, she heard him murmur something else. For a moment she thought she had heard him say ‘I love you’.

Next morning, she woke feeling completely refreshed. As she rolled over she noticed the other side of the bed was empty. Frowning, she got up, picking up her bathrobe which had been draped on the end of the bed and put it on.

There was a note on the counter in the kitchen when she went out.

_Lois, you were sleeping so peacefully I didn’t want to wake you. There are fresh bagels in the bag. I have a few things to take care of this morning, but we can meet at the farm about noon._

She frowned, wondering how Clark was going to get to the farm, since he’d said he didn’t have a car. She had contacted her insurance company the day before. They had organised a rental car while her own car was being repaired. Fortunately, the damage hadn’t been too bad and she would only need the rental for a day or so.

She dressed with care in a raspberry coloured top and jeans, mindful once again of her bruises, although they definitely seemed less painful than the day before. She caught a taxi to the rental car depot and signed for a small Toyota Yaris. It was nowhere near as good as her own car, a Ford Taurus, but it was all they had.

She drove to Smallville, checking her phone for directions to Hickory Lane. It was about five miles out from the centre of town, past fields of golden corn almost ready to be picked.

A small truck was parked in the drive as she pulled in. Potter’s Florist was stencilled on the door. Clark had obviously borrowed Nell’s truck.

Speak of the devil, she thought as he emerged from the yellow farmhouse. He waved to her, smiling in greeting.

She got out of the car and walked up the gravel pathway to him.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi, welcome to the Kent Farm. I was just doing a little bit of cleaning. It’s got a bit dusty since I was last here.”

She followed him inside, wondering if he’d been here for hours as the house was spotless. There wasn’t a speck of dust to be seen. Not even a single cobweb. Either that or he'd used super speed, she thought.

Clark took her on a tour of the farmhouse, telling her a little about the history of the farm. It had been in the family for four generations before Clark. His great-great-grandfather had moved to Kansas shortly after the end of the Civil War and had built a small two-room cabin for him and his wife. When the family had expanded, they had built a new house. A second storey had been added a few years before Clark’s father, Jonathan, had been born.

There were framed photographs on the wall. Clark had clearly put them up in the last few years as there were photos of what she guessed was a teenaged Clark with Nell and a pretty brunette.

“That’s Lana,” he said, with no hint of sadness. “And that’s my parents.”

She looked at the picture he indicated of a red-haired woman and a tall, fair-haired man. They were a good-looking couple, she thought.

“I come here sometimes, when the city gets a little too much for me. I wanted to live here when Lana and I got married, but she insisted on living at Nell’s old house. It’s about a mile away from here.”

He seemed relaxed, even happy. Lois could understand why. There was something so peaceful about the little farmhouse. There was a lot of love in that house.

“My parents told me when I was about seven that I was adopted, but I never felt like I wasn’t … theirs, you know?”

“They loved you,” she said, nodding.

“Yeah.”

Clark took her outside, showing her around the outer buildings, then led her to Nell’s truck.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“It’s a surprise,” he said.

She held on as he took the truck over bumpy fields and back roads.

“My grandad sold most of the farm land and left the money in trust for me, but where we’re going, it’s owned by an old neighbour of ours. I asked him if it would be okay if I brought you here.”

Lois looked around as Clark stopped the truck. There was an old chestnut tree growing by a narrow stream. A frayed rope hung down from one of the branches.

“When I was little, my friend Pete and I used to have a tyre swing on that tree. This used to be my favourite place to come, just to play and hang out. My dad even built us a tree house, but it’s long gone now.”

She understood. This was his sanctuary and he was now sharing it with her.

He went to the back of the truck and took out a basket and a folded blanket. Lois helped him unfold the blanket and lay it on the grass.

“A picnic?” she said. For their first actual date, he’d organised a picnic.

“My mom told me once that she made a picnic for my dad for their first date. I don’t know where she planned on going, but they never got there. He had this old truck that was always breaking down and it wouldn’t start. So they had their picnic in the barn.”

Lois grinned at the story, watching as Clark pulled out a container of fried chicken and fresh bread rolls, along with salad. He’d clearly made the chicken and the salad himself.

“I know it’s not a fancy restaurant,” he said, “but …”

She pressed a finger to his lips. “It’s perfect,” she told him.


	23. Fortress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark breaks into Lex's vault, with a little help and learns a little more about his heritage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This got a little long and I decided to make this just Clark's p.o.v. A few notes. I know it seems to happen a little too fast, but by way of explanation, Lex has been researching this for a few years and before that, Lionel. So they've pretty much done all the work for Clark, which is why this all happens rather quickly. In the show, the whole stones arc was dragged out as a way of showing that Clark didn't have the maturity to deal with it. Plus there was the whole Jor-El being a bit of an ogre. This Clark has grown up faster and doesn't have such a narrow view of the world. There's also the fact that Chloe has been helping with the research. Long story short, I really didn't want to drag it out. Hope it makes sense in the chapter. 
> 
> Also, I know I've used a different figure of the Egyptian statue in another story but I looked at the images again and it does look like it could be Horus.

Clark arrived at Watchtower early the next morning to find Chloe working hard as usual. She turned from the screen and looked at him.

“Oh hi. I thought you’d gotten lost when you didn’t answer my calls yesterday.”

He ran a hand through his thick dark hair. “Sorry,” he said honestly. “I spent the day with Lois out on the farm.”

She grinned at him. “Yeah, I heard all about it last night. She was utterly, hmm, what was the word? Charmed.” She frowned. “Yeah, that’s not a word I expected to hear from Lois’ mouth. You’re certainly pulling out all the stops.”

“Chloe …” He really didn’t know how to respond to that. All he’d wanted to show Lois was that he was just a simple guy. Despite his other-worldliness.

“Relax, Clark. I’m just messing with you. I’m glad, actually. Lois hasn’t had anything to smile about in a long time and if you’re the reason for that smile on her face then I’m all for it. And that goes double for you. You’ve been lonely since Lana died.”

He nodded. For the first time in years he found himself looking forward to the day. It sounded silly, but he couldn’t wait for Monday morning when he would walk into the bullpen at the Daily Planet and see Lois helping herself to a donut or three. 

“So, what happened with Patricia Swann?” Chloe asked, changing the subject.

“I wish I knew. I went to talk to her in New York and next thing I knew she was dead.” He ducked his head, thinking if he hadn’t gone, she might still have been alive.

“Clark, don’t beat yourself up. This isn’t your fault. I’ve already checked with New York police and they don’t think this was just a random killing. It looks like it was pre-meditated, which means the killer had to have been planning it for a while.”

“But why her? I mean, I didn’t get much information out of her except … well, she did say to stay well away from Lex. Which I already knew.”

Chloe frowned. “Yeah, I’m afraid my information is sketchy at best. She didn’t send me a lot of details when she emailed.”

“Do you think Lex could have done this?” Clark asked. He’d been thinking about it since he’d heard the news and it was the only explanation. Since Patricia had been emailing Chloe about Veritas, he wondered if Lex had been trying to cover it up. 

“Honestly? I don’t know. But it certainly sounds plausible. Uh, speaking of whom, what are you going to do about the stone? If it’s in Lex’s possession …”

“I can’t exactly break into Lex’s office. Not again.” While they had done their best to keep from arousing Lex’s suspicions the night they’d broken into Luthorcorp, he didn’t want to chance it again. 

“I think I might be able to help with that. Victor and I have been working on it.”

Clark nodded. “Yeah, Oliver told me.”

“I asked Victor to break into Lex’s systems, maybe see if he can get an inventory list. Knowing Lex, he’s egotistical enough to have some kind of record of it. It might make tracking it a little easier.”

“I still don’t know where to even start looking for the other stones.”

“Well, my computer has been searching for anything that might resemble Kryptonian symbols. It came up with a few possibilities. There’s someone you might want to talk to.”

She brought an image up on the main monitor. Clark frowned as he studied the photograph. The man was tall with dark blond hair. He wore a beige coloured shirt and slightly darker short pants. He looked very familiar. 

“Who is he?” he asked.

“He’s an archaeologist. Named Carter Hall.”

Carter Hall! The same man in the photograph with the husband of Lois’ neighbour. Was he with the Justice Society?

Chloe gave him an address. Clark saw it was across town. When he reached there a few minutes later, he looked up. It was a three-storey brownstone which didn’t appear to stand out among the other buildings. A faded sign outside showed it had once been a museum. Clark felt apprehensive as he opened the door, not knowing what he would find.

“Hello?”

There was no answer. He stepped into the huge foyer and looked around. There were doors leading off the main entry but nothing to tell him where to go. The décor was dark and oddly imposing. Everything about this building screamed ‘keep out’. 

Clark decided to use his x-ray vision and looked through the walls into each room. As he did so, he heard the sound of whispering. It was almost eerie, creating an unsettled feeling. 

He stepped into one room, eyeing the huge table covered with a heavy dust cloth. Several other pieces of furniture were covered up.

“The museum’s closed!”

Startled, Clark whirled and stared at the tall man. He looked even more imposing than in the photograph and it appeared he hadn’t aged since the photograph had been taken. It was odd. 

“Uh, the door was open,” he told the other man. 

“Well, it shouldn’t have been. What do you want?” Carter Hall asked brusquely.

“Um, I was told you might be able to help me with a … with a story I’m working on.”

“Uh-huh. You a reporter?”

“No, I mean, yes, I mean …”

Carter cocked an eyebrow at him. “Sounds to me like you don’t know what you are. I think it’s time you left,” he said, moving forward to grab Clark by the arm. His strength was surprising. He still wasn’t strong enough to budge Clark. 

“I am a reporter. Or, well, I’m going to be. Eventually. I’m an intern at the Daily Planet.”

“I see.”

“Mr Hall, the thing I need help with …” He stared as another man walked into view. Clark couldn’t help hearing the whispering again. It appeared to be coming from a bag in the other man’s hand. Clark frowned. The man also looked like the one in the photograph in Mrs Henderson’s apartment. 

“Mr Nelson?” he asked.

Carter quickly stepped in between them, shielding the other man from Clark.

“State your business and then get out! I have no time for games.”

“My name is, uh, Kent. Um, Clark Kent. I was trying to track some symbols and I thought you might know something about them.”

“Why would I?” Hall asked. 

Clark pulled out the printout Chloe had given him. She’d re-drawn the symbols from the drawing he’d given her and scanned them into the computer. 

The archaeologist frowned as he looked at the paper. “I know a few ancient languages but these …” He pointed to one. It was shaped like a diamond with a line running from it and a small circle in the centre of the line. “I’ve seen this one before. Wait here.”

Clark watched as the man walked away, feeling a little disconcerted. Kent Nelson would look up at him then duck his head, whispering something to whatever was in the bag. Clark wondered if Nelson was crazy and his curiosity got the best of him. He x-rayed the bag and stepped back, startled, when he saw what looked like a face. It turned and looked right at him. 

Carter came back, holding a book. 

“The symbol was carved into …” He paused and stared at Clark. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Uh, nothing,” Clark said, deciding he’d imagined it. “You were saying?”

“The symbol was carved into a wall in an ancient temple. The temple was created by the ancient Egyptians to worship Horus.”

“Horus?”

“Said to be the god of war and hunting. He had the head of a falcon, which of course is known as a bird of prey. It’s also a symbol of power.”

That made a sort of sense, Clark thought, since the stones were said to contain some sort of power that men would kill to obtain. He asked Carter for the location of the temple. 

“Even if you could get to Egypt,” Carter told him, “you wouldn’t get near the temple. About a year ago, Luthorcorp commissioned a dig. Whatever they found, if they found it, no one’s talking.”

Well, that was just great, Clark thought. It looked like Lex had another stone. He thanked the archaeologist and turned to leave. As he opened the door, his hearing picked up more whispering. Then Kent Nelson spoke softly to Carter.

“He could be the one,” he said.

“Whether he is or not, it doesn’t matter. We don’t need him.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

Clark returned to Watchtower and reported what he’d learnt to Chloe. She frowned at him. 

“Well, that’s not weird at all,” she said. “There was a head in the bag?”

“I don’t know about a head,” he told her. “But I swear it looked at me.”

“Nothing came up about Carter Hall in my research.”

“What about Kent Nelson?”

He watched as she typed on the keyboard but there was nothing.

“It’s as if they’re ghosts,” she said. “I’m going to need to do more digging. Whatever or whoever the Justice Society are or were, there’s no record of them online.”

She turned away from the computer and went to the small kitchen to make them both a cup of coffee.

“Maybe we should check the archives at the Daily Planet,” he said. She nodded. They sat down on the long couch. Chloe relaxed back into the stuffed cushions, holding her coffee.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

Clark chewed his lip. “Don’t you think it’s really strange that Carter Hall hasn’t aged much? I mean, Lois’ neighbour had this photo and I’m sure it was the same guy. He didn’t look that different from the photo.”

Chloe frowned. “That is weird. But I doubt we’ll solve the mystery here. I talked to Victor, by the way. He thinks he might have something.”

“Thanks. Hopefully it will lead us to the stone.”

She studied him for a long moment. “You doing okay?” she asked. 

“Yeah. Why?”

“Well, you just seem so … I don’t know. A lot’s been happening the past few weeks. I mean, don’t get me wrong. This thing you have with Lois, I’m all for it. I’m just wondering where you plan on going with it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you going to tell her the truth? I mean, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from dating Oliver it’s that you can’t keep that kind of stuff secret from each other.”

“I know. I just don’t know how she’ll feel about it.”

“You never know until you try. The thing is, if Lois can’t accept you for who you are, how can you continue the relationship with that knowledge? Wouldn’t you rather know before you get too deeply involved?”

He knew what she was trying to say. If he wanted a future with Lois, she had to know the truth. It wasn’t just about the fact that she could be in danger if his enemies ever learnt his true identity. 

He’d had problems with Lana over wanting to use his abilities to help people. She had objected, saying she didn’t want to be second-best. His first responsibility was to his family, she’d said in one of the last things they’d fought about. 

Then there was Lois’ own relationship with her father. She’d told him that she had felt like a spare piece of luggage instead of a daughter when her father had taken on various posts all around the world. She’d understood his duty to his country came before anything else, but it had still hurt. She loved her father but regretted the years she had felt left behind and had played up as a result.

Clark didn’t want to do that to her. He just didn’t know how he was going to maintain the balance between being The Guardian and being with the woman he was coming to love deeply. 

When he voiced his thoughts to Chloe, she nodded. 

“That’s sort of what happened between me and Oliver. I found out he was Green Arrow before he told me the truth and he worried how that would affect us personally. So I told him that knowing the truth didn’t change my feelings for him. The thing is, Lois would resent it more if you decided to end it without telling her the truth because you would be making the choice for her. No one likes to be told that somebody else knows what’s best for them. If you do decide to walk away thinking she would never accept your destiny, then that’s exactly what you’re saying.”

She put her empty cup down on the table.

“Clarkbar, don’t get me wrong. You know I loved Lana. She was my best friend, aside from you. But she was wrong. She just couldn’t see that you could be both a husband and father and The Guardian. And Nell knows it too.”

He nodded. He knew what she was trying to say, giving him a different perspective on the issue. 

They continued to chat about trivial things. As much as he wanted to spend the rest of the day with Lois, she had told him she needed to run some errands and clean her apartment. Not that it was messy, he thought. Lois had confessed to being something of a slob as a teenager but she had got out of that bad habit a long time ago. Not that she was a neat freak either, she had told him. 

Victor joined them a short while later. Clark watched in fascination as the dark-skinned man connected to the computer using a cable from the bionics in his arm, downloading information into the system. 

Chloe began accessing the download. Clark turned to Victor.

“Can I ask you something?” he said.

“You just did,” the other man replied with a grin.

“Funny! What really happened to you? I mean, I know Oliver said something about you being an unwilling participant, but … how did you get mixed up with him?”

Victor looked at him for a long moment before telling him the story. He’d been involved in a car crash which had killed his parents and his sister. The official story had been that he’d died too, but a company named SynTechnics had been experimenting with using cybernetics. Several of their guinea pigs had died but Victor had survived. 

Feeling guilty over what had been done to Victor, a scientist had released him, but not without security discovering the escape. When Victor had been running for his life, he had run, literally, into Chloe, injuring her in the process. He’d got her to the hospital and stayed long enough to make sure he hadn’t hurt her too badly before running again. Chloe had immediately called Oliver. 

The man who had become known as Cyborg had gone on the run but it wasn’t long before the SynTechnics scientists had caught up with him. Thankfully, Chloe had managed to dig up information and had sent Oliver to help him get away. What had happened to SynTechnics she didn’t know but it appeared to have been absorbed as part of Luthorcorp’s holdings. 

“So Lex is involved?” Clark asked. “Why am I not surprised.”

“I talked to him about it and he claimed he knew nothing. That he didn’t know everything about every company he acquired. Yeah, as if I’ll believe that,” Chloe said with a snort. “Anyway, look here. Lex has a few private vaults. He lists the contents of all of them and describes something which I think might be what you’re looking for.”

Clark looked at the information and groaned. The vault in question was in the mansion in Smallville. It was a huge monstrosity. He remembered when he was about eight, there had been talk all over town about the Luthor mansion. The trucks had rolled through the streets for weeks. Nell had complained to his parents about it and even laid a complaint with the sheriff, to no avail.

“How am I supposed to get into the vault?” he asked. “If I get caught …”

“Maybe I can help with that,” Victor said. “If Chloe can find out the manufacturer of the vault’s locking mechanism and download the schematics, I can figure out how to bypass the system without alerting security.”

Clark looked at him. “You can do that?”

“Sure. Hey, you helped us out of a jam.”

“Yeah, but you guys helped me find General Lane. That makes us pretty much even.”

Chloe groaned. “If you ladies have finished, I have the schematics.”

Clark frowned at her. “That was quick.”

“Well, to be honest, I already knew who manufactured the vault. This isn’t my first foray into Casa Luthor.”

Victor smirked at her and waited for her to stand aside so he could get the schematics. It took a few seconds. 

“All right. So, Kent, you up for a trip to Smallville?”

Clark frowned. “You mean, now? What if Lex …”

“Lex left on a business trip the day before yesterday.”

“And you know this because … Don’t tell me you have some kind of secret surveillance on him.”

“No, but when your uncle works for the army, you do get a few perks here and there. Go.”

“What about the security at the mansion?”

Chloe scowled. “Geez, Clarkbar, anyone would think you were scared.”

“Not scared. Just cautious. Lex probably has surveillance …”

“Which I can hack into. I can take care of things from here. Just go,” she said, handing him a communicator. 

Clark rolled his eyes but left Watchtower with Victor. They sped to the mansion together and waited out of sight of the main gatehouse. Clark put the communicator in his ear and listened for Chloe’s signal.

“All right. Surveillance is set on a loop. The vault’s in the library. Whatever you do, don’t dawdle. I’ve only been able to record the main hallway and the library.”

Clark sped with Victor into the mansion, only stopping when they reached the library. Victor quickly moved to uncover the vault. As Clark watched, the half-man, half-cyborg flicked what looked like a blade from his closed fist and inserted it into a key slot. A tall bookcase slid aside to reveal a heavy steel door.

Victor turned and smirked at him, then moved in front of the security panel. Clark didn’t see what the other man did but a few moments later there was a quiet beep and a click. The vault opened.

They entered the vault. Victor waited at the entrance while Clark quickly looked around using x-ray vision and located two small metal cases. He opened the first one and saw a stone nestled in a protective bed of foam rubber. The second case housed another stone. It looked like Lex had had the pieces which had hidden the stones and discovered their secrets. 

As Clark touched the smooth surfaces of the crystals, his hand tingled. Almost as if the crystals were vibrating. He put them both in his jacket pocket, making sure they were secure, before closing up the cases and putting them back in their places.

They made it out of the mansion without incident. Clark showed her the stones. She studied them for a few moments, refraining from touching them. 

Victor left them to it, saying he had some stuff to do for Oliver. Clark didn’t ask but figured it had something to do with their mission to prove Lex had illegally acquired ownership of the Daily Planet.

“Any idea where the third stone is?” Chloe asked once she’d finished studying the crystals.

“I don’t know. Has anything come up on the search?”

“Not so far. What are you going to do with those?”

Clark bit his lip. Before Lois had arrived at the farm the day before, he’d spent a bit of time with the ship, trying to learn more about his quest to find the stones. He’d told Jor-El about learning of the caves. His alien father had not expressed any surprise and then revealed that the caves had once held a portal to Krypton. The use of the portals was sanctioned by the Council of Elders. Only those who had some level of authority on Krypton could use the portals. The House of El was one of the oldest of the ruling houses and because of that, Jor-El and his family were able to use the portals.

When Jor-El had tried to warn the council that Krypton was dying, they had closed the portals in order to prevent Jor-El and Lara from escaping with their son. Jor-El had defied them anyway by building a ship to save his only child. 

After his father had told this story, Jor-El had reiterated the need to find the stones. Once he had each stone in his possession he was to take them, along with the key, to a hidden chamber in the caves. 

“There’s a chamber inside the caves. Jor-El said the crystals, once they’re reunited, will reprogram the portal. I don’t know what will happen after that.”

Chloe nodded. “I hate to rush you, Clark, but I do think you need to get onto it. Carter Hall contacted me.” She held up her hands. “Don’t ask me how the man knew about us, but he did tell me to tell you that whatever project you’re working on, you should know that Luthorcorp has already commissioned another expedition to investigate another site.”

“So, it’s a race against time.”

“Pretty much.”

He left Watchtower, curious as to how Carter had known about them. Or at least known about his connection to Chloe. He supposed if the man had done his research, and since he was an archaeologist, research wouldn’t be a hardship, he would have eventually found the connection. It just seemed a little too convenient that within hours of Clark’s visit to the brownstone, the man had managed to contact Chloe.

Clark sped to the farm and grabbed the key from its hiding place, making sure nothing was amiss. He was about to leave and make his way to the caves when his phone rang.

“Hi, it’s me,” Lois said.

“Lois! Where are you?”

“At my apartment. I just thought I’d … you know, call and see if you were okay. I …”

He couldn’t help smiling. She was clearly trying not to say it, but she missed him. He could tell from the wistfulness in her voice. 

Maybe it was corny, but he missed her too. Just one day apart and it felt almost as if he had a limb missing. She was a part of him now. 

“I know,” he said. “I feel the same.”

“Do you want to, um, come over? I mean, when I’m finished cleaning.”

He didn’t want to say no but he couldn’t exactly tell her what he was doing. He wasn’t even sure what was going to happen once he put the crystals in the cave. 

“I’m not sure what time I’ll be done with this research I had to do,” he said. “But I’ll try to make it.”

She sounded disappointed but resigned. “Okay. No worries. Research has to come first.”

Why did he get the impression she was meaning something else when she said the word ‘research’?

He sped to the caves and entered the cavern, pausing to look at the pictographs on the wall. He shone the flashlight over the wall, the light glancing over each one in turn. As he turned to go, he saw a symbol which resembled one he’d seen on one of the stones. He shone the beam onto it, studying it for a moment. 

Clark took the key from his pocket and held it up. It vibrated in his hand, then lights flashed on the wall. First blue, then red, then yellow. As he watched, a chamber opened up. Feeling a little nervous, he entered the chamber. Inside was a stone table. A recess was in the centre in a diamond shape. There was a slot beside it, which Clark assumed was for the key.

He studied the recess. All three symbols from the stones were inscribed alongside, showing him where to put the stones. He took the two crystals out of his pocket and carefully set them in place. As he did so, the two crystals shone brightly, each in different colours, before they turned an ice blue. A sound emanated from them, searing through his brain, causing his ears to pop painfully. 

He knew what he had to do. Running out of the caves, he quickly looked around before launching himself in the air and flying at speed toward an unknown destination. It was as if he was flying purely by instinct. He had no idea how fast he was travelling but it was faster than any jet plane. 

He didn’t know where he was when he descended but saw Lex in the distance arguing with a man in an official uniform. It looked military. The mysterious sound was not so loud now but it urged him on. The officer patted down Lex’s pockets, then forced open a briefcase. The bald billionaire was clearly anxious to stop him as he stepped forward, but another officer held him back. Clark launched into super speed as the briefcase opened, the movements slowed almost to a standstill. There, beneath a hidden pocket in the middle of the case, was the final stone. He grabbed it and took off once more into the air. Lex might eventually figure it out but at least the crystal was no longer in his possession, Clark thought. 

He returned to the caves a few minutes later. He hesitated, still a little apprehensive about what would happen once the stones were united. So far, Jor-El hadn’t said or done anything which should give him cause for concern but his birth father hadn’t explained what was supposed to happen or what was expected of him once the stones were united.

He sighed. He had to bite the bullet. While the work he was doing as the Guardian was great, he knew he had to do more. Lois had said it herself. Metropolis needed someone like him. The city and its people needed someone who could give them hope.

He recalled the conversation with Patricia Swann. About light and dark. Yin and yang, he thought. For every bad, there had to be a good for things to remain in balance. Too much of one thing and it would throw the natural order of things off kilter. 

Slowly inhaling and exhaling, he placed the final stone. All three lit up then formed into a diamond which then rose in the air. There was a light, brighter than any he had ever seen, which surrounded him. For a moment he felt as if he was caught up in a tornado. Dizzy, he closed his eyes until he felt the whirlwind ease, then opened them again, finding himself in a world of white. It was like a winter wonderland. He realised he must be either near the North Pole or the South Pole. 

The crystal in his hand vibrated. He looked down at it in wonder. Suddenly it shot up into the air and flew about a hundred or more feet from where he was standing, then plunged into the snow. 

There was a sound like the rumbling just before an earthquake and the ground trembled. Clark stared, holding his ground as the earth shook. Then a structure rose from the surface forming a huge crystalline structure. 

He walked toward it, trudging through the snow. He felt dwarfed by the huge crystal beams which formed the main part of the structure. It was at least three times taller than himself and he was hardly small. 

He saw a bed of crystals of similar formation to the structure. The crystals glowed a bright white, drawing him to them. As he stood beside it, one crystal flew into the air of its own accord. Clark reached out and grabbed it, feeling it hum in his hand. It felt similar to the time he had touched an electric fence on the farm when he was little and still able to bruise easily. 

“Kal-El!”

The voice echoed throughout the chamber, making it sound more imposing than the voice he’d heard from the ship.

“Jor-El?”

“Yes, Kal-El. You have done well, my son.”

“What is this place?” he asked, still daunted by the sheer size of the place.

“It is a recreation of our home, Kal-El. Of Krypton. I created the crystal to contain a library of knowledge from the twenty-eight known galaxies.”

“Twenty-eight?” he said, awed just by that number alone. He didn’t know how many galaxies the people of Earth were aware of, not that it really mattered all that much.

“The humans, sadly, are at least one thousand years behind Krypton. They have much to learn. However, that also means that they still have time to correct the mistakes that led to Krypton’s destruction.”

“I don’t understand something. How could you have created the crystal when the stones have been here for hundreds of years?”

“You have spent far too much time among the humans, Kal-El,” Jor-El replied. Clark almost had the impression his father was laughing at him. Or would have done if the tone had been a little more emotional. “Humans think of time in linear terms.”

“So, it’s not really like that?”

His father launched into a complicated explanation of time and space folding in on itself which Clark didn’t really understand. Then again, he realised that his education had been based on theories developed by people who had never heard of Krypton. Most of them barely understood Einstein’s theories. 

He listened as his father told him the history of Krypton and why he’d been sent to Earth. Jor-El then asked him about growing up in Smallville, expressing sadness that Jonathan and Martha Kent had passed so early in his development.

“I feel guilty, sometimes,” Clark confessed. “I sometimes wonder what I could have done. Whether I could have saved them.”

“I, too, wonder if I could have done things differently on Krypton. But there is a human expression which I believe suits this feeling very well. Hindsight is always 20-20 my son.”

“That’s kind of what Lois says.”

“Lois?”

“Lois Lane. She’s my … well, I hope she will be my wife someday.”

“You care very much for her.”

“Yeah. It’s hard to describe what she’s like. I mean, she’s bold, brash. She’s a very attractive woman and I’m not the only one who thinks so. She’s smart and funny. She’s one of those people who tries to make the world a better place and doesn’t just sit back and wait for it to happen.”

“Your mother was like that for me,” Jor-El told him. “There were days when I wanted to give up in despair but she would tell me that maybe we could not change our own circumstances but we could still keep trying. If not just for our own sakes, but for yours. Your mother and I were together for many, many years before you came along, Kal-El. She told me you were her miracle and she loved you very much.”

“What was she like?”

“Your mother was beautiful. Not only that, she was the kindest, most gentle soul I have ever known. She had the biggest heart and the most beautiful spirits of all the women I knew on Krypton. While I have only known you for a short time, I see that you have your mother’s spirt. Treasure the woman you love, Kal-El.”

“I do. I just … I haven’t told her about me. I worry that she might see me differently.”

“If she is as you describe, then I have no doubt she will accept you for who you are. Those we love are of great value to us. They not only support us, they give us respite from our burdens. You have a great destiny, Kal-El, but you also must take time to replenish your soul.”

Clark was quiet for a few moments, taking in everything his father had said. 

“What do I do now?” he asked.

“You must come to me. To learn about your destiny.”

“I have a job.”

“I understand, my son, but your training is important. May I suggest that you decide on a day each period to return here to this fortress. So we can work together.”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure Lois would be so understanding if I disappear one day a week.”

Jor-El quietly advised him to tell her the truth. To tell her everything.

Clark returned home, relieved to see it wasn’t too late. Instead of going back to his apartment, he knocked on Lois’ door. She broke out in a huge smile when she saw him, wrapping her arms around him.

“I’m glad you came,” she said.

He let her take his hand and lead him into the apartment.

“Are you hungry?” she asked. “I got some take-out. I probably ordered too much, but I …”

He shook his head. He realised he hadn’t eaten all day but didn’t feel the need to eat.

“There’s something I …”

He went into the living room and patted the couch. “Lois, come and sit down with me.”

She frowned at him. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing’s wrong. I just … there’s something I need to tell you.” He took a deep breath as she sat down. “Lois, I need you to know. I love you. I’m in love with you.”

Her lips quirked in a pleased smile even as she looked uncertain.

“I love you too,” she said, blushing.

“Lois, I … When my parents died, I spent a lot of time wondering if there was something I could have done. I was only ten when it happened.”

“I know,” she said softly.

“Nell used to tell me that it was okay to feel that way. The accident wasn’t my fault, nor was their dying. But there were times when I wondered if it would have happened if they hadn’t adopted me.”

“You can’t think like that.”

“I used to think I was a heavy burden on them. Not just because I ate a lot, or needed new clothes all the time. The thing is, they always worried that someone might come along and take me away. I guess in a way they passed that fear on to me.”

“Clark, I don’t understand. How could you …”

“My grandfather didn’t want anything to do with me when my parents died. Not because of my dad. I know there was a huge fight before Mom and Dad got married and they didn’t talk for a long time.”

“So why did he?” she asked.

“He was afraid, Lois. With good reason.”

She looked confused. “I still don’t get it.”

“He was afraid that if people found out the truth about me they would lock me up somewhere.”

“Lock you up?”

“I’m not like other people, Lois. I have … uh, abilities. Powers, I guess.”

“Clark, are you … are you the Guardian?”

He nodded. “Yes, I am.” He waited, watching her face for any sign of fear or rejection but there was nothing. “There’s more,” he said.

“More?”

“I’m not from around here, Lois. I wasn’t born here on Earth. I was born on a planet called Krypton.”

He again waited. She stared at him in wonder but so far hadn’t shown any sign of fear.

“Please say something,” he said.

She still didn’t comment. Instead, she moved closer to him, stroking his face with her fingers, then kissed him. When they broke apart, he looked at her in wonder.

“I don’t care,” she said. “I didn’t fall in love with the Guardian, or an alien from Krypton. I fell in love with you. Clark Kent. A man with the most amazing heart I’ve ever known. Your powers don’t make you who you are, Clark. They’re a part of you but they don’t define you.” She laid a hand on his chest, about where his heart would be. “This is what defines you. Right here.”

“So you’re not, um, curious?”

“Oh, I will have a million questions for you, spaceboy. But those can wait.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Spaceboy?”

She got up and straddled his lap to kiss him again. She pulled back with a grin.

“Trust me, Smallville, now that I have that for ammunition, I am going to tease you about it until doomsday. And you’re going to love it.”

“You are a handful, Lois Lane.”

She giggled. Clark pulled her close, using one hand to push her hair out of her face so he could kiss her properly. Definitely a handful, he thought.


	24. Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois learns the truth about Clark.

Lois had gone back to the deli to talk to Shorty. Since he was the one who had told her about Sinclair in the first place, she figured he might be able to point her in the right direction.

“Sorry, kid. I only heard about Sinclair through a friend of a friend. I’m sorry the guy’s dead, but maybe you should leave well enough alone.”

“I can’t. I’m sure Dr Sinclair was murdered. I don’t have any proof, but …”

“That’s what I like about you, Lane. You’re like a dog with a bone.”

“Hey!” she said, shooting him an indignant look. Just because she got called Mad Dog Lane sometimes, it didn’t mean she had to take that. Even if he was a friend. She switched to another tack.

“So, who was this friend who told you about Sinclair?”

“Forget it, Lane. If you’re right and the guy was murdered, then you should back off. I’m serious. Your friend The Guardian might be there to save your gorgeousness on occasion but one day he might not be.”

“I can’t leave this alone, Shorty. The man deserves the truth.”

He was still adamant that he could not or would not help. She understood he didn’t want to attract that kind of trouble to himself. He had managed to stay out of trouble and out of jail for a few years and wasn’t about to get knee-deep in it again.

She went to the police station and spoke with one of her poker buddies. Donovan was not happy to see her.

“Whatever you want, Lane, I ain’t interested.”

“Come on, Donovan. I just need info on the man from the other night. Dr Sinclair.”

He shook his head. “It’s still being investigated,” he said. “I don’t have any information for you.”

“Do you even know what the cause of death was?”

“Overdose,” he said. 

“So they’re ruling it a suicide?”

He shot her an incredulous look. “Do you really think we’re that dumb, Lane? A man dies and within hours there’s a fire in the building? What kind of idiot do you take me for?”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just … I went to see Dr Sinclair. I’d only left him an hour before his body was found.”

Donovan stared at her. “Well, hell, why didn’t you say so, Lane?” He led her to an interview room. “Tell me everything you remember.”

She blinked. “Uh, what?”

“You’re a witness, Lane. If you’re right about the timing, he was killed shortly after you left.”

She bit her lip, thinking back. There had been that guy in the corridor. He’d looked like he belonged there, but what if he hadn’t? What if he’d been there to watch over Sinclair?

Oh god, she thought. What if he’s dead because of me?

“I can see the wheels turning in that pretty head of yours, Lois. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“There was a guy. In the corridor. He tried to bum a smoke off me. I quit when I turned eighteen and got addicted to Nicorette gum instead so I don’t do that anymore.”

“Bouncing ball, Lane.”

“Right. Sorry. He was just as filthy as the rest of the place. He looked like he belonged there. But what if he didn’t?”

“Are you suggesting he might have had something to do with the man’s death?”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

“Gimme a description.”

She shook her head. “There really wasn’t much to go on. Scraggly hair, beard, filthy clothes. Maybe about six or six-one.”

“Yeah, that fits about half the guys in the Slums. What else?”

“Nothing. I didn’t even notice him when I left Dr Sinclair.”

“What makes you think the good doctor was murdered?” Donovan asked.

She told him what she had learned from the doctor. The officer looked sceptical when she mentioned experiments with meteor rocks but promised he would look into it. He leaned forward.

“I know you’re blaming yourself for this, but don’t. It seems to me that this whole thing was premeditated. It was just a matter of time.”

“But why?” she asked. “The man was dying anyway. What good would it have done?”

Donovan had no answers for her. As much as he had tried to assure her that it wasn’t anything to do with her, she couldn’t help thinking exactly the opposite. If she hadn’t gone to see him, whoever had killed him might have let him alone. Not that the thought of him spending whatever time he had left in such conditions was any comfort either. 

She had no idea what to do next, but figured it couldn’t hurt going to the Planet to do a little research. She began looking in some of the archives. The Planet had a collection not just of its own old editions, but also of other newspapers. 

She wanted to check out some issues of the Torch, hoping they might give her a little more insight. The articles she did find didn’t tell her anything more than what she already knew. Except for the fact that Chloe had written most of them.

It stood to reason Chloe knew his secret. Her cousin was very good at keeping secrets. There had been the time when Lois had been sixteen and had decided to go out clubbing in Metropolis. Chloe had been staying with her while she worked at the Daily Planet over the summer. The general had been based at Fort Ryan for a special project for two months that summer. The two girls had both sneaked out to a club. When the general had asked them where they had been half the night, Chloe had covered for her, concocting a story about them going out for ice cream and the car breaking down before they were accosted by two drunk guys. It had been very off-the-cuff but the general had looked like he believed it. 

The articles written about the Guardian since he’d begun to appear around Metropolis weren’t much help either. As much as she thought she knew about Clark, she still didn’t have much in the way of proof. 

“Working hard?”

She looked up, startled to see Perry in the doorway of the archives room. She quickly switched off the monitor. The Planet’s editor-in-chief smiled at her. 

“Don’t worry, honey. I won’t tell if you don’t.”

“I just came in to look at the archives,” she said.

He nodded. “How’re you feeling, kid?”

“I’m okay. A little bruised, but they’ll heal.”

He came in and sat down on the corner of the desk. “I’m glad you’re okay. Tell you the truth, when I heard it was you involved in that accident, I was worried.”

“Yeah, thank goodness for the Guardian,” she said. “He saved my life.”

“Seems to do that a lot, doesn’t he?”

She frowned at her boss. He was the second person to have made that observation. 

“I don’t …”

“Relax, honey, I’m not trying to imply anything. Seems like the Guardian’s become your own personal guardian angel. I’m not knocking it. In fact, I’m kinda glad to know someone’s looking out for you. You do tend to find trouble.”

“I guess.”

He grinned. “I had an interesting chat with your father. And with Oliver Queen. Seems they both think that the transfer of ownership of the Planet wasn’t exactly kosher.”

“Yeah, he told me he’d talked to you. Do you think there’s any truth to it?”

“Well, we’d have to do a bit of digging but I always thought it was rather sudden. Taking over a publishing company can often take months. Yet the purchase was completed in a matter of weeks.”

It certainly sounded fishy to her. Still, she had her own stories to investigate. She stood up.

“I better get going,” she said. “I have an apartment to clean.”

Perry nodded. As she headed for the door he followed her, pressing the button for the elevator.

“Where’s Clark today?” She frowned at him, wondering what he meant by that.

“He had some errands to run. Why?”

“Well, I called your apartment yesterday and he answered the phone.”

She frowned. “He didn’t tell me that.”

“He probably didn’t want to disturb you.”

“He was just staying over, um, keeping me company for a bit,” she explained lamely but her boss just shot her a smirk. It appeared he was not as blind to his reporters’ personal lives as she had thought.

Perry raised his hands. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m a cynical old newspaper hack with two ex-wives. Mind you, neither of them actually worked for a newspaper. Guess they figured I cared more about the job than them. Anyway, point is, I see you smiling a bit more lately and I can’t help thinking it’s that young man. Let me tell you something, Lois. If whatever you have going with him is responsible for that smile on your dial, then you grab on to it and hold on with both hands.”

He wasn’t the first to have said that, she thought. Her father had said the same thing just a few short days ago.

“I don’t care what Luthor says about inter-office romance. Hell, if I know anything it’s that you don’t get to choose who you fall for. Besides, I think Clark knows better than anyone just how quickly you can lose it. Your dad too, I bet. If you got feelings for the man, then don’t let anything stand in your way. Not me. Not Luthor. And not The Guardian. Hear me?

She nodded. “Yes.” The elevator doors opened and she stepped inside. She turned and smiled at her boss. “Thanks Chief.”

He laughed, then pretended to scowl. “Get out of here. Go find that man of yours. And don’t call me Chief.”

She left the Planet and went to the grocery store to buy a few things before heading back to her apartment. Mrs Henderson greeted her as she walked up the steps to the main entry.

“Lois, dear, how are you? Are you all recovered from the other night?”

“I’m a little bruised,” she said honestly. “But nothing a few days won’t fix.”

“Oh, perhaps you should see a doctor.”

“No, I’m okay. How are you doing, Mrs H?”

“Oh, I’m fine, dear. Can’t complain. I bumped into that nice young man of yours yesterday. Such a sweet boy.” She went on to explain that she’d had a few groceries in a couple of bags and Clark had helped her carry them inside. She chattered for a little bit, praising Clark.

“That young man certainly seems to be very taken with you,” she said. 

Lois had to admit it was definitely mutual. She couldn’t help the little smile, as well as the blush as she thought about the afternoon she’d spent at the farm with him. They’d talked for hours, just sitting beside the river. It had been such a beautiful day in such a pretty spot.

He’d talked at length about his parents and the little things they would do for each other. Clark obviously subscribed to the idea that romance shouldn’t be something that was only observed on Valentine’s Day or reserved for special occasions. He had told her he firmly believed that when two people loved each other, they would always do little things for each other without being prompted. 

Lois had been too young when her mother died to have been able to observe her parents’ relationship. She’d always known her father had put his work first but he’d told her if he could do it all again, he would have put her mother first. 

Perry was right. Love was indeed a precious thing and now that she had found it, she wanted to hold onto it. 

She remembered that day at the Smallville Cemetery and Clark talking about her like she was someone special. He’d stood by his parents’ graves telling them that he would have to tell her ‘his secret’ if their relationship was going to progress. She had a feeling he was worried that she wouldn’t accept him, warts and all. She wanted to let him know that she didn’t have a problem with him being the Guardian. 

Maybe he worried that she would come to rely on him too much to rescue her. She didn’t know how she could answer that when she had been getting herself into trouble long before she’d joined the Daily Planet. She wouldn’t have become the reporter she was if she hadn’t taken chances from time to time. Yes, she admitted, sometimes those chances had their dangers, but she was no damsel in distress. Even her father had told her she was far too much like him. Yet if there was one thing she had learned from the general it was strategy. It didn’t always work but she did try to assess any potential danger before she got in too deep. It was just those times when her guard was down that things turned bad. 

Her phone was ringing as she opened her apartment door. She quickly put the grocery bag down on the counter and picked up the phone.

“Lois Lane.”

“Lo?”

“Daddy,” she said, happy to hear his voice. “I’m happy to hear from you. How are things with Lucy and the baby?”

“It’s just great, honey. How are you doing? I heard you had a little accident.”

“It’s nothing,” she said. “I’m fine.” She didn’t want to tell him about the Guardian’s involvement or how serious it could have been. 

“I hear Clark’s been staying over.”

“Just keeping me company,” she said, crossing her fingers.

“Well, I’m glad you have someone to keep an eye on you, sweetheart. Listen, I’ll be heading back to Metropolis a week from tomorrow. I have a job interview. I can stay with Perry White if it’s not convenient.”

She knew what he was implying, but she wouldn’t hear of it.

“Nonsense, Daddy. You know you can stay here. What’s the interview for?”

“Some kind of consultancy. I’ll give you more details later.”

Lois heard her niece, Ella, crying in the background. Her father paused, then told her Lucy wanted to say hi.

“Lo?”

“Hey Luce. Are things going okay?”

“Yeah, they’re great.” She laughed. “Dad’s making faces at the baby. You should see it. It’s so cute!”

Lois chuckled. Cute and her dad in the same sentence sounded a little like an oxymoron, but she couldn’t help smiling at how relaxed her father sounded. Lucy also seemed less stressed than she had been before their father had disappeared. 

“Give the baby a big kiss and hug from me,” she told her sister. 

“I miss you, Lo.”

“I miss you too, Luce. You should come for a visit.”

“I will, I promise. When Ron manages to get some time off.” Ron Troupe was Lucy’s husband. He was a reporter at the Edge City Gazette.

“Maybe he should think about taking a job at the Planet,” Lois said. 

“There aren’t any openings,” her sister replied. “We’ve been looking.”

“Well, something will turn up. It would be great if we could all be in the same city.”

“Yeah,” Lucy agreed. “I gotta go. Love you.”

“Love you, too,” she said. 

She unpacked her groceries, smiling as she took out a tv dinner. Mac and Cheese. Clark could probably make it so it didn’t taste like cardboard. 

Speaking of whom, she thought. She picked up the phone again and dialled the familiar number.

“Hi, it’s me,” she said when he picked up.

He sounded happy to hear from her. “Lois! Where are you?” She snickered to herself. He obviously hadn’t looked at the caller i.d. or he’d have known she was calling from home.

“At my apartment. I just thought I’d … you know, call and see if you were okay. I …” She wanted to say she missed him, even though they’d barely been apart a day. It might have sounded strange to someone else but he was so much a part of her life now that she missed every moment he wasn’t there.

“I know,” he said. It almost seemed as if he knew exactly what she was trying to say. “I feel the same.”

“Do you want to, um, come over?” She looked at her grocery items. Apart from the tv dinner, she’d bought cleaning products. She reminded herself she’d told him she wanted to clean the apartment. “I mean, when I’m finished cleaning.”

He sounded almost reluctant as he spoke, as if he didn’t want to say no.

“I’m not sure what time I’ll be done with this research I had to do,” he said. “But I’ll try to make it.”

She was disappointed, but had a feeling it had something to do with his work as The Guardian. As much as she wanted him to say that she would always come first, she knew she would have to share him with the rest of the world. She tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice as she answered him but a little bit of resignation slipped through.

“Okay. No worries. Research has to come first.”

If this had been any other time, before her father had got into trouble, she would have probably resented anything that took the man she loved away from her. But she wondered if Clark’s wife had tried to keep him from helping people and in the end that had been one of the main issues between them. Lois didn’t want to be the kind of person who could be that selfish. She loved him enough to let him go so he could do what he needed to do, knowing he would come back to her. 

She decided to get on with the cleaning. Lois hated anything resembling housework and often times her apartment resembled the aftermath of a tornado, but there were times when she got tired of the mess and got stuck in. Since Clark had stayed over for a couple of nights, and her father for a couple of days before that, the apartment wasn’t as messy as it usually was. It was a good time for her to use those skills she’d picked up living with a father who liked to do the ‘white glove’ inspection every now and then. 

She donned rubber gloves and took a bucket filled with hot water, cleaning spray and an array of rags into the bathroom and began scrubbing down the toilet and bath until they both gleamed. It was her least favourite part of the job which was why she always got it done first. 

By the time she had scrubbed the grout on the counter and washed the kitchen floor until it shone, she was exhausted. She put the things away then filled the bath with water, adding bubble bath and salts. She pinned her long hair up and sank into the water, lying back against the wall of the tub. She closed her eyes in bliss.

As she let her tired muscles soak, she thought about Clark, wondering how she was going to convince him that it was okay to tell her the truth. As much as she wanted to quietly support him in the background, she had the feeling that something was about to come to a head. With what had happened to Dr Sinclair, she wondered if Lex was doing damage control. Now that she’d had time to think about it, she had decided that the man loitering in the hallway at Dr Sinclair’s apartment must have been sent to watch him and report any visitors. The man had probably recognised her and was told to get rid of the problem. 

Given what she suspected about Lex, it stood to reason that he would turn his sights on Clark. Hell, he already had if her suspicions were right about the apartment block he was living in. The eviction notice had been far too sudden for it not to have been anything else but a slap in the face. Lex was jealous, but more than that, he was possessive. 

Those poor people, she thought. People like the old man, Jackson, who had been caught up in Lex’s vendetta against Clark. She would have to talk to Clark about it. If they were going to be a couple, then this was something they should tackle together, she thought.

The bath water had cooled somewhat and she decided it was a good time for her to get up. She dried herself off and dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. As a teenager, she had refused to wear anything girly, compromising with reasonably bright colours. Once she’d started working as a professional journalist, she’d bought skirts and stylish blouses which were fashionable and feminine, yet comfortable. She still opted for jeans and t-shirts when she was at home.

She decided to order take-out and called the local restaurant. It was a ten minute walk from her apartment and she opted to pick it up rather than pay extra for delivery. The walk in the cool evening air was pleasant and refreshing. 

Clark still hadn’t called when she dished up the meal so she left the remainder of the food in the containers. She’d ordered more than enough, secretly hoping he would be home soon. 

She couldn’t help smiling to herself as she repeated that hope in her head. She was already thinking of her apartment as his home too. 

She found herself thinking about all the other men she had dated, including the failed engagement. So many other relationships had gone wrong but Clark was the one she wanted to get it right with. When she compared him to all the others, there was really no contest. He was the one who made her want to get up in the mornings. As Perry had said, Clark was the one who put a smile on her face. With all the sappiness that came with it. 

She’d settled down to watch some television but couldn’t concentrate, nibbling her thumbnail. She would have to get a manicure after this, she thought. 

Someone knocked on her door and she quickly wiped her hand on her jeans before getting up to answer. She looked through the peephole and grinned, quickly undoing the deadbolts, giving her boyfriend a huge smile before wrapping her arms around his neck.

“I’m glad you came,” she said. She took his hand and pulled him into the apartment, closing the door softly behind him. 

“Are you hungry?” she asked. “I got some take-out. I probably ordered too much, but I …” She didn’t want to tell him she’d deliberately ordered it that way.

She stopped as he shook his head and pulled gently away. 

“There’s something I …”

She bit her lip, wondering why he was looking so serious. He went into the living room and patted the couch. 

“Lois, come and sit down with me.”

She frowned at him, worrying even more that something was wrong. He shook his head in denial when she asked. 

“Nothing’s wrong. I just … there’s something I need to tell you.”

She slowly sat down beside him. Was this the moment? The do or die moment? 

“Lois, I need you to know. I love you. I’m in love with you.”

Her lips quirked in a smile but she was still worried. It sounded almost as if he was trying to let her down gently. She felt herself blushing.

“I love you too,” she said.

From the look on his face, he was pleased at her response. He was quiet for a moment, clearly struggling with what he was wanting to tell her.

“Lois, I … When my parents died, I spent a lot of time wondering if there was something I could have done. I was only ten when it happened.”

He’d told her all of this before, but she sensed he needed to tell her again, as if he was leading up to something.

“I know,” she said softly. 

“Nell used to tell me that it was okay to feel that way. The accident wasn’t my fault, nor was their dying. But there were times when I wondered if it would have happened if they hadn’t adopted me.”

She understood that. Oh boy, did she understand. When her mother had died, she had thought about it a lot. It was a kind of bargaining. Like if she had been better behaved, then her mother would still be alive. Not that she’d ever really been a naughty child. Mischievous, perhaps, but not naughty. So she knew exactly where he was coming from.

“You can’t think like that,” she said.

“I used to think I was a heavy burden on them. Not just because I ate a lot, or needed new clothes all the time. The thing is, they always worried that someone might come along and take me away. I guess in a way they passed that fear on to me.”

Part of her thought this was the moment of truth but she still couldn’t understand how his abilities could cause such a fear. His parents had loved him, that much was obvious. So what would they have to be afraid of?

“My grandfather didn’t want anything to do with me when my parents died. Not because of my dad. I know there was a huge fight before Mom and Dad got married and they didn’t talk for a long time.”

Still, that was no reason to reject a ten-year-old boy who had just lost his whole world. She had a new respect for Nell. 

“So why did he?”

“He was afraid, Lois. With good reason.”

It still felt wrong. How could anyone be afraid of this sweet man who, she had no doubt, would have been even sweeter at ten?

Clark explained. “He was afraid that if people found out the truth about me they would lock me up somewhere.”

“Lock you up?” she asked, wondering what he meant by that. He wasn’t a criminal. Sure, he had some differences but that didn’t justify it. 

“I’m not like other people, Lois. I have … uh, abilities. Powers, I guess.”

So, there it was. That confirmation that he was The Guardian. She asked him straight out and he nodded. He looked at her like he was waiting for something. She knew without him saying a word. He was afraid.

“There’s more,” he said, when she didn’t comment. 

“More?” she asked, staring at him curiously. The fact that he was The Guardian was already big enough. 

“I’m not from around here, Lois. I wasn’t born here on Earth. I was born on a planet called Krypton.”

She stared at him in wonder, but wasn’t afraid. The words were like a whirlpool in her head, going around and around. He was an alien. An honest-to-goodness alien. Yet he looked like every other human on the planet. She had so many questions about that but decided what he needed right now was the reassurance that she didn’t feel any different about him. She loved him. It didn’t matter if he was from Krypton or Mars. What mattered to her was his heart. 

She remembered a girl she had known in ninth grade. Jamie had Down’s Syndrome but she was the funniest, cheekiest girl Lois had ever known. Even being bullied hadn’t changed her attitude. Lois had only known her about a year, since her father had transferred out the next summer, but those few months had given her an amazing insight into what it was like for someone who appeared different. 

She realised it didn’t matter what someone looked like on the outside. It was what was inside that counted. Another girl in their class, Dana, who was, according to most of the boys in the entire school, the hottest girl in the freshman year, had been one of the bullies. She had been nasty to the point where she picked a fight with Jamie and had threatened to hurt her because the other girl had just ignored her taunts. Things had come to a head when Lois had heard the girl planning to ambush Jamie. Lois and some of the others in her class, along with a couple of the football players who treated Jamie like a little sister, had confronted Dana and told her if she tried anything they would make sure she would get kicked out of school. 

Jamie never knew what they had done and she still remained the sweetest, kindest girl Lois had ever known. It spoke volumes of her character and made Lois realise that it was character that defined someone. 

Clark might have powers beyond any normal man, but it was the power of his heart that defined him. 

He was looking at her, his brow furrowed in a frown, clearly worried.

“Please say something,” he said, sounding uncertain.

She moved closer to him, stroking his face with her fingers, then kissed him. When they broke apart, he stared at her. 

“I don’t care,” she said. Well, she did, but not in the way he was probably thinking. If anything, now that she knew his fears and who he really was, it made her love him more. He could have done anything, been anything. He could have used those abilities to do terrible things but he hadn’t. Instead, he’d used his differences to show people that they could turn their own differences into strengths. 

“I didn’t fall in love with the Guardian, or an alien from Krypton. I fell in love with you. Clark Kent. A man with the most amazing heart I’ve ever known. Your powers don’t make you who you are, Clark. They’re a part of you but they don’t define you.” She laid a hand on his chest, about where his heart would be. “This is what defines you. Right here.”

His lips curled in a half-smile.

“So, you’re not, um, curious?”

She grinned at him, unable to resist the opportunity to tease him a little.

“Oh, I will have a million questions for you, spaceboy. But those can wait.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Spaceboy?”

She got up and straddled his lap to kiss him again. She pulled back with a grin.

“Trust me, Smallville, now that I have that for ammunition, I am going to tease you about it until doomsday. And you’re going to love it.”

“You are a handful, Lois Lane.”

She giggled. Clark pulled her close, using one hand to push her hair out of her face and kissed her again. She couldn’t help chuckling at the thought of being able to tease him. 

He pulled away once more and lifted her gently, getting up from the couch. 

“You know, I think I’m hungry after all.”

She watched as Clark heated up the leftovers from her takeout without using the microwave. 

“Wow!” she said. “What else can you do?”

He smiled. “How about we leave the discussion about my powers for a bit. What have you been doing all day? The apartment looks great.”

“Yep, I can safely say if my dad came to do a white glove inspection, it would pass muster.”

Clark laughed. “He does that?”

“Oh yeah. By the way, he’s coming back to stay next weekend. He has a job interview.”

“That’s great.”

“Um, so I was thinking.”

“About what?” he asked.

“Your apartment. I mean, since you have to move anyway, why don’t you just move in here? There’s plenty of room.”

He looked at her sombrely. “It’s a nice idea, Lois, but if your father’s going to stay for a while it might not be the best thing. Unless you want me to tell him I’m the Guardian.”

She bit her lip. She hadn’t thought about that. Even with Clark’s super speed there was still a good chance he would get caught.

“Oh, yeah,” she said. “Guess that wouldn’t be very practical.”

“I’ve still got some time to come up with a solution,” he said. 

She remembered what he’d told her father about commuting from the farm. That wasn’t exactly practical either, she thought. 

“So, Perry was talking to me about Dad’s theory. About the sale of the Planet. I think he might be doing a little digging himself.”

Clark smiled. “Well, why not? He might be an editor now but he’s still a reporter.”

“I guess. I just hope Lex doesn’t find out what he’s up to.”

“Speaking of whom …”

She nodded. Lex could be a problem when it came out that they were in a relationship.

“I think there’s a lot more to it than that,” Clark told her when she voiced her thoughts. She frowned at him. 

“What do you mean?”

“Chloe thinks Lex might suspect I’m the Guardian. He may know more than he’s saying about me. It’s why she thinks he’s trying to convince me to let him buy the farm.”

“Why? What does that have to do with it?”

“Well, my spaceship’s there. In the storm cellar.”

She stared at him. It was one thing to know he was an alien. It was yet another to realise he actually had a spaceship. If it was true that Lex suspected, then she had to protect him somehow. 

Clark told her he’d learned that there had been people sniffing around at the farm, saying they were part of some EPA study. He suspected they’d been employed by Lex.

“Do you think he knows about the ship?”

“It’s possible.”

“Maybe the farm isn’t the best place to hide it,” she told him.

He nodded. “You’re right. I’ll have to see if there’s a way to transport it to the fortress. Where it’ll be safe.”

“The fortress?”

“It’s sort of a representation of my home planet. Up in the arctic. I’ll take you there someday,” he promised. 

As much as she wanted to ask him questions, she knew he wanted to take things slowly. He’d as much as said he didn’t want to overwhelm her with too much information.

They sat in comfortable silence watching an old movie. Lois was reluctant to end the evening, knowing he would have to leave eventually. She moaned when he got up. 

“I should go patrol,” he said. “And we both have work in the morning.”

“Do you have to go?” she asked plaintively. 

“Yeah, honey, I have to. But I’ll see you in the morning. I promise.”

He leaned over and kissed her on the mouth. She smiled serenely up at him. He was gone with a whoosh.

Next morning, she was in her office as usual, reading her emails and catching up on a few things after the few days she’d had off. Clark hadn’t appeared yet but he’d sent her a message saying something had come up which required the Guardian. She did her best to cover for him, telling Perry he’d had a lead on a story they were working on and was following it up.

Lex was in a foul mood. He’d apparently got in late the night before from a business trip but had never let a little thing like jet lag keep him from missing work. She had heard that he had already threatened to fire his assistant, who had been seen in tears. 

“I don’t care, Perry!” Lex shouted. “I’m the publisher and what I say goes!”

“Well, I’m the editor-in-chief and I’m saying you can’t just fire someone on a whim! He’s a good kid.”

‘He’? Lois thought. She poked her head out of the office and looked down the corridor. Lex and Perry were glaring daggers at each other. The bald man appeared to notice her watching and walked toward her with a smile on his face. Lois was suddenly reminded of a movie she had watched about a dozen times. The plot had revolved around a killer shark. Lex’s grin resembled that of the shark’s.

“Lois, good to see you back at work. I’m sorry about that. Just some staffing issues.” He took her arm and all but shoved her back into her office. 

“Is everything okay?” she asked, not out of concern but more to placate him.

“Everything’s fine. So, uh, what stories are you working on?”

“Oh, this and that,” she said. “You know me. I’ve got about a dozen stories on my plate. All depends on if I get a lead or not.”

“Yes, of course. Would you have dinner with me? Tonight?”

Moment of truth, she thought. If she dawdled over her answer, he might think he still had a chance. Yet, if she was honest with him, he would take it out on Clark.

“I’m sorry, Lex,” she said. “You’ve been a good friend. Especially when my dad went missing. But I would rather not. Now, or ever. I’m sorry,” she repeated. 

He was cool with his response but she could see a flicker of anger. “I see. Is it Kent?” She didn’t respond. “It is, isn’t it?”

“Frankly, Lex, my relationship with Clark is none of your business.”

“You do understand there is a clause in your contract about inter-office dating.”

A fact you seemed to ignore when you kept asking me out, she thought, narrowing her eyes at him. 

“Then it’s probably a good thing you’re ending the internship, isn’t it?” Perry interjected from the doorway. Lois stared at her editor.

“What?” Clark’s internship was over?

“Sorry, honey. Lex just now terminated Clark’s contract. There’s nothing I can do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to write Lois' p.o.v of the big reveal, including the dialogue from the previous chapter with her own thoughts thrown in.


	25. Tactics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois has some tactics to employ of her own as Lex gets petty.

Clark was just going down the stairs to the bullpen, returning from helping clean up an accident on the highway, when his phone beeped, telling him he had a text. He pulled it out and looked at the screen. _911\. Meet me at Gino’s. ASAP._

Frowning, he put the phone away and swiftly changed direction. He sped out before anyone could see him and found the small Italian café. Lois was sitting by the window, watching the door. She spotted him and beckoned him over to her table.

“What is it?” he asked as he sat down.

“I just got some news from Perry,” she said. “Lex terminated your contract.”

He stared at her, at once startled and completely devastated by the news. He shouldn’t be surprised, he told himself. Knowing Lex the way he did, especially with the way he thought of Lois as his, something like this was bound to happen.

“What?”

She quickly raised her hands. “Now before you start panicking, I’ve been thinking things over. I know you don’t want to move into my apartment with my dad coming to stay, but there is no way I’m letting you give up your studies either. Until we can prove what a snake Lex is …” She was talking a mile a minute.

“Lois, slow down.”

“No, Smallville. Listen. I’ve had some time to think about this. Okay, maybe I’ve only had like thirty minutes or so, but we both know Lex is only doing this out of spite. He knows about us, Clark. I mean, he doesn’t know everything, but he knows we’re, you know, together. So, I’m saying we refuse to play his game.”

He frowned at her. “I don’t see how else we can play it.”

“He thinks he can beat you down, force you to give up everything, just so he can tell himself he won.”

He shook his head, more amused than worried about Lois’ frenetic energy. When she got emotional about something she tended to talk at twice her normal speed, which was usually fast enough. If it wasn’t for the fact that his brain also had an ability to see and hear things at super-human speed, he would never be able to keep up with her.

“So, what are you suggesting?”

“Well, first, we dig up every piece of dirt we can find on Lex. Then we take it to someone else.”

“Like who?” he asked, not quite understanding her thinking.

“Like someone who might be interested in owning a newspaper. Someone who wouldn’t use their own power to censor any articles.”

It sounded like she already had someone in mind.

“Do you mean Oliver?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Don’t get me wrong. I love Oliver. But it would look kind of odd when Queen Industries has a history of being involved in the development of weapons.”

“So does Luthorcorp.”

“Well, no, it was initially an agricultural company. You know, fertiliser, crops, that sort of thing. Then when part of it was broken off to become LexCorp, that’s when it got into weapons and other research and development. I don’t remember exactly what Lex said when he announced his takeover of the Daily Planet but he said something about diversifying. I do remember there was also something about a partnership between what he intended to become LuthorMedia and Luthorcorp.”

“Which sounds to me like he was trying to be subtle.”

“Exactly. It was his way of controlling the message. Anyway, there’s this other company over the bay. It’s a long-established family-owned corporation.”

“When you say long-established …”

“Like about four hundred years.” She leaned down to get something from her bag and took out a small tablet. “I found some stuff online.”

Clark stared at her in surprise. When Lois was onto something, she approached it like a runaway train.

“You did all this in half an hour?”

“Well, no. After you left last night I began thinking. About a lot of things. I mean, I knew the crap would hit the fan once Lex found out about us, I just didn’t know it would be this soon. Anyway, they list a couple of entertainment companies in their prospectus. One is a television station and the other …”

She turned the tablet around to show him. Clark saw a website for the Gotham Tribune.

“Bruce Wayne?” he asked. He knew of the multi-billionaire but had never met the man. “How exactly are you suggesting we even …”

“We set up a meeting with him. You and me. We both know Lex has a hidden agenda. Who better to fight him than the Prince of Gotham?”

Clark knew what she was trying to do but he wasn’t so sure it would work. Bruce Wayne might not even be interested in the Daily Planet. Even if Lex or Luthorcorp was his own company’s biggest rival.

Just as they began talking about heading back to the newspaper to face the music, Lex walked in to the shop.

“Is he stalking me now?” Lois muttered.

The bald billionaire walked up to them. Lois quickly rose from her seat, grabbing her bag.

“We were just on our way back to the Planet.”

“I’ll save you the trip,” Lex said, turning to glare at Clark. “Kent, I’m sorry to do this to you …”

Clark waved his hand. “No, you’re not,” he replied. “Lois just told me. I knew the internship wasn’t going to last forever but to suddenly make an arbitrary decision based on … what? Jealousy?”

“It’s a business …”

“Don’t give me that,” Lois began, practically shooting fire from her eyes. Clark glanced at her and minutely shook his head. Lex reached out, almost as if he was about to hit her, his face like thunder. Clark wrapped his arm protectively around her.

“We both know the real reason you did this. You can’t stand the fact that Lois and I are a couple now. I’m sorry that you’re put out, Mr Luthor, but let me make something very clear to you. She was never yours to begin with. A woman like Lois Lane deserves to be treated with respect, something I am afraid you have yet to learn. Goodbye, Mr Luthor.” With that, Clark shoved the man aside and walked with Lois out of the shop.

It was clear from the way the rest of the customers were staring open-mouthed that they had not only witnessed the exchange but were just as angry at Lex for the way he had treated them.

Clark was quiet until they reached the corner. “Okay, call Mr Wayne and see if you can set up an appointment,” he said. “As for the rest, we’ll work something out.”

Lois was staring at him in admiration. Part of him felt he shouldn’t have confronted Lex like that but another part of him was glad he had put the man in his place. It was probably long overdue.

He only had a few things he’d left at the newspaper and he made his way downstairs to the bullpen to grab them. As expected, Perry was waiting for him.

“I’m sorry, Kent. I think you have the potential to be a great reporter.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Perry,” the older man said, holding out a hand. Clark shook it. The editor leaned forward. “Look, I can’t promise anything, but if you sent in some stories occasionally I could pay you freelance rates. It’s not full-time, but you could keep up your studies … Luthor doesn’t have to know.”

Clark knew Luthor would have a way of finding out, but if Lois was right about the way he’d bought the newspaper in the first place, it would be irrelevant.

“Thanks Perry.”

The worst was yet to come. When Clark got home to his apartment he found the locks had been changed and all his stuff was being dumped in the hallway. Floyd stood supervising as two men carried his belongings out of the apartment. Several items had already been broken, including a precious framed photograph of him with his parents.

“Floyd, what the hell?” he asked.

“Sorry Kent, you’re being evicted.”

“You can’t just …” This had to be illegal. He paid his rent on time and had done a few minor repairs in the apartment himself.

The rotund man shrugged. “Nothing I can do about it. The new owner wants the apartment.”

Lex. He’d embarrassed the man and showed him up for the bastard he was and now the other man was getting a petty kind of revenge.

The man really had it coming, he thought. There had to be some way to make sure he got his comeuppance.

He took his phone out and pressed a few buttons. “It’s me,” he said when the person on the other end answered. “I could really use some help.”

He didn’t have to wait long. Within twenty minutes, they were there. The men had already left, having dumped every piece of his belongings in the hallway, breaking several items. The items weren’t valuable, except to Clark.

“Clark, what the hell?”

He looked up at Oliver’s voice. “I’m sorry to have called you.”

The blond man waved his hand. “Forget about it. This is what friends are for. Are you telling me they just evicted you without cause?”

“Oh, there’s cause. I pissed Lex off so he did this.”

“Are you sure it’s Lex?”

“The landlord said the new owner wanted the apartment.”

Victor, Bart and Oliver helped him pick up his belongings, packing them in the boxes Oliver had supplied. Bart gingerly picked up the broken photo, careful of the shards of glass still in the brass frame.

“Is this you?”

“Yeah. With my folks.”

Oliver looked at the photo. “Nice.”

Clark felt a lump in his throat. He hadn’t cried since Lana’s funeral but now, seeing the ruined photograph of his parents, it was just a bittersweet reminder of how much he’d lost. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, Clark, don’t worry. We’ll fix this. We’ll get him.”

They managed to pack everything and took everything down to Victor’s truck.

“Take the stuff to my place,” Oliver said. “You can stay with me tonight. We’ll figure something out in the morning.”

Clark nodded, too angry, too emotional to decide anything else right now. He let his friend lead him to the yellow Lamborghini and sat back, closing his eyes. He’d thought about calling Lois and updating her on the situation but as they pulled up at the apartment building he realised he didn’t have to. She was pacing in front of the main entrance, looking as mad as hell.

It was a fairly good guess Chloe had called her and told her what had happened.

As soon as she saw him get out of the car, she ran to him and hugged him.

“Are you okay, sweetie? Ooh, that Luthor! When I get my hands on him he’s going to be sorry. I’ll show him. That man needs a good swift kick in the heinie, and then some!”

“Lois,” he said as she began ranting and talking about ripping Luthor apart. “Lois, honey. It’s okay.”

Well, it wasn’t, but what could he do?

Victor pulled up behind the car and they took the boxes from the truck upstairs. Lois, clearly wanting to work off some of her energy, tried to take the heaviest box, but Clark gently took it away from her.

Chloe had ordered food and it was waiting for them as they got upstairs. They discussed the situation as they ate. Bart, of course, inhaled his food like it was going out of style.

“I’ve known Lex to be petty, but this is way beyond petty,” Oliver observed.

“He’s definitely a sore loser,” Chloe added. “What are you going to do?”

Clark shrugged. “In terms of living, I can’t ask Nell. She only has a small apartment.”

Lois nudged him. “You could still come and live with me. If Dad gets this job next week, he’ll probably look for his own place. He told me on the phone that he doesn’t want to cramp my style.”

“You could stay here for the time being,” Oliver said.

“I don’t want to invade your privacy,” Clark told him. “Thanks, though.”

“You wouldn’t. I have four bedrooms and the master bed is like way down the hallway.”

As much as Clark appreciated the offer, he still thought it would be a problem. Especially when Chloe came to stay the night. He could usually tune things out at will but sometimes his super hearing kicked in spontaneously. It could be potentially embarrassing.

Oliver stared at him for a moment when he relayed that little tidbit, then got up.

“I should get some drinks. Clark, you wanna give me a hand?”

“Uh, sure.”

He followed the other man out into the kitchen. Oliver looked at him as he poured juice for everyone.

“Lois knows?”

“Everything. Well, almost. I didn’t want to overwhelm her with too much all at once.”

“How did she take it?” his friend asked, his expression showing keen interest.

“Well, she’s Lois,” he said. “She doesn’t care. Well, she does but … you know what I mean.”

“Yeah. It was sort of the same with Chloe when I told her everything. Look I know you don’t want to embarrass Chloe but it’s really not a problem if you want to stay here for the time being. At least until the General gets himself settled.”

“Thanks Oliver.” He wanted to refuse but his friend was insistent. “I will, but it’s only temporary.”

They returned to the living room where Chloe and Lois were discussing Lex’s pettiness.

“Please. This from a man who risked getting me killed in an accident so he could test the Guardian,” Lois was saying.

“We don’t have any real proof it was Lex,” Chloe replied, looking up and smiling at her boyfriend as she took the glass of juice.

“Who else could it be? We both know it wasn’t Mannheim.”

Chloe looked at her cousin.

“I actually have some news about that. My contact in the police department said they arrested the guy in the car. Well, actually, the man was left tied up on the doorstep of the local precinct.”

Lois immediately looked at Clark. He shook his head and stared at Chloe. That was news to him. His best friend smirked.

“Yeah, I know. Turns out it was Batman.”

“What? What was Batman doing here?” Lois asked.

“Beats me. But the guy’s from Gotham, so maybe that has something to do with it.”

“Which precinct?” Lois asked.

“14th. Turpin works out of that one.”

“He was the detective who investigated the accident,” Lois said. “Remember Clark?”

He nodded. “We should probably go talk to Turpin tomorrow,” he said. “See what we can find out.” His girlfriend beamed at him. Chloe just smirked.

***

Next morning, Lois spent a little time in her office writing up a couple of articles before sending them off to Perry. Clark was in class for an hour or so but would meet her at Gino’s after class got out.

As she prepared to go to meet him, Lex barged into her office, his face like thunder. He waved some pages at her.

“You really think I’m going to print this?” he raged at her.

“Hmm, let’s see, hundreds of people kicked out of their homes, a tenant evicted unlawfully? Sounds newsworthy to me.”

“It’s unprintable,” he said.

She glared back at him. “Sounds to me like you’ve got something to hide,” she said. “It’s not like I’m accusing anyone specific. Yet!”

He stared at her. “Are you accusing me of something, Ms Lane?”

So it was ‘Ms Lane’ now and not ‘Lois’? She really had him on the ropes if he was this pissed at her.

“Sounding awfully defensive there, Mr Luthor. You can’t not print a story that isn’t news. Especially when I have the evidence to back up every word in that article.”

He continued to stare at her, clearly struggling for something to say without incriminating himself. She had taken special care not to name names in the story but Chloe and Oliver had helped her gather enough information that it could lead to an investigation by the city’s Housing Commission. A year or so ago the mayor had decided to crack down on developers buying up properties in Suicide Slum and forcing people out of their homes. It wasn’t entirely successful but what had happened in Clark’s building would be enough to get the mayor interested.

Oliver had already sent all the evidence to the mayor’s office and told them that if nothing was done he would use all his voting power as a major property owner to force a vote of no-confidence against the mayor and the city council.

“Don’t test me, Lois.”

“We both know who is really behind that so-called development in Suicide Slum. I might not have the proof yet, but I will get it, Lex. And if you think you can fire me for this, then think again. I’ve already talked to a rep from the Press Association about your bullying tactics. You might have got away with firing Clark but we both know why you did it.”

She picked up her bag and shoved past him, then turned and aimed the full force of her glare at him.

“I’m glad I fell for Clark because he is a far more decent man than you will ever be!” She took a step toward the lift and looked at him once again. “You know what? I feel sorry for you, Lex, because you will end up a sad, lonely, pathetic man who has to resort to buying companionship!”

She left him staring at her open-mouthed. As she walked away, she felt a sense of satisfaction at having put him in his place. She spied Perry watching from the doorway of another office. He winked at her and gave her the thumbs up.

She walked outside, loving the warmth of the early summer sun. She put on her sunglasses and walked with her head held high, paying no attention to the admiring glances of the men who passed by. There was only one man worthy of her notice and she was about to meet him.

While Gino’s was at least four blocks from the Daily Planet, the walk didn’t seem to take very long at all. It was funny, she thought. Being in love just made her see the world in a different way. As if time itself shifted somehow and she never even noticed it passing.

Clark was standing outside Gino’s waiting for her. He broke out in a huge smile when he spotted her and she ran to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Hi,” she said dreamily.

“Hi.”

Holding hands, they walked into the shop, their eyes only for each other. Lois was sure people were staring but she didn’t care.

“Did you want to order a coffee?” he asked.

“Mm, yes.” She turned to look at their pastry case. They had a black forest cake which looked divine. “I think I’ll have a slice of the black forest cake too.”

“That looks good,” Clark said, giving their order to the girl at the register. Lois was pleased to note he didn’t even ask what her favourite coffee was but ordered it exactly how she liked it.

She remembered something she had seen, on YouTube or Facebook. It was one of those videos where someone was giving advice on how to please their significant other. It boiled down to basically knowing everything about their partner and acting accordingly. Like knowing how they liked their coffee, or being there for them when they weren’t feeling well. Doing things without asking.

Clark’s parents had done that for each other. Rubbing her partner’s feet at the end of a long day didn’t sound romantic but to her it was.

She realised Clark had led her to a table while she’d been day-dreaming.

“What were you thinking about just now?” he asked.

“About romance,” she said. She rolled her eyes and laughed. “Funny, isn’t it? I used to be really cynical about stuff like that but since I met you …”

He smiled. “Yeah, I know what you mean. When Lana and I were together she used to complain that I never wanted to do anything special on Valentine’s Day but I always thought you shouldn’t need a holiday to remind you to do something good for your partner. It’s the way my mom and dad were and it’s how I feel.”

She smiled into his beautiful green eyes. Oh lord, she thought, am I turning into a sap?

“Mr Kent, you say the nicest things.”

A server put down a tray and gave them each their coffees and cake. “Enjoy,” she said.

They fell into a comfortable silence as they ate. Lois caught other customers watching them and realised she had her hand still in Clark’s. It just seemed so natural.

God, she wanted to grow old with this man. She wanted to have a family with him. Would it be possible, considering his heritage?

Wow, a voice in the back of her mind said. You really are gone, aren’t you? He hasn’t even proposed and you’re already thinking marriage and children.

She finished her cake and sipped her coffee, telling Clark about the story she had written and Lex had vetoed.

“It’s not like I even named names.”

“I guess it pretty much confirms what we already knew. That Lex is behind the development. Why else would he be trying to keep it quiet?”

“I think we’ve got him worried about how much else we do know,” she said.

“Lois, I don’t want to get all over-protective but you need to be careful. I mean, not just because you could lose your job but what if Lex tried to hurt you?”

As much as knowing Clark was the Guardian gave her confidence to go full-steam ahead, she also worried about what Lex would do, now that he was on the ropes, so to speak.

“I know. I’ve thought about that. The thing is, we can’t just back off.”

“I’m not asking you to back off, honey, I’m just asking you to be careful,” he repeated. “I know you can take care of yourself and that’s one of the things I love about you, but this is Lex we’re talking about.”

He was right. Lex reminded her of a wild Mustang she had encountered when she was about ten. Her father had been seconded for half a year to a base in Australia. Lois had been out on a school trip to a small town in the Outback and a group of men from a local station had gone out to round up some wild horses which were tearing up local farmland. One of the horses had managed to break away only to be cornered. It had reared up and kicked out, doing its best to defend itself. Her teacher had told the class that when wild animals were fighting for their survival they were at their most dangerous to humans. Lois remembered the look in the animal’s eyes. As scared as she was, the horse was even more frightened.

Finished with their coffees, they left the shop and walked together to the police station. The sergeant on the desk looked at Lois’ press badge.

“Can’t help you,” he said.

“This isn’t just about a story, sir,” Clark said. “Lois was involved in an accident a few nights ago when someone tried to run her off the road. We just want to talk to Detective Turpin.”

He studied them for a few moments, then nodded. “All right. Wait here. I’ll see if he’s free.”

A few minutes later the blond detective came out through a doorway.

“Miss Lane?”

“I heard you arrested someone after that accident the other night,” she said.

“You have impeccable sources, Miss Lane. We weren’t releasing that to the press.”

“Why not?” Clark asked.

“Because I’m afraid the case is going nowhere. Two hours ago the man we arrested was found dead in his cell. Preliminary scene examination suggests he died of a drug overdose. If you’ll excuse me, I have a report to write.”

“But …”

“I’m sorry, Miss Lane. I know we should have told you, given you were the victim in this case, but I’m afraid we’ve reached a dead end.”

Lois huffed in frustration as the detective left through the same door. She looked at Clark.

“So much for that,” she said. They walked out together.

“I can’t believe them,” she continued. “The guy’s dead and they’re just gonna drop it?” Clark had stopped walking beside her and she turned to look at him. He had an odd look on his face. “Clark?”

He didn’t respond, turning his head so one side was facing the police station. She again tried to attract his attention but he put a hand up. She realised what he was doing. He was listening to something.

After about a minute he turned away and spoke in a low voice, eyeing the two uniformed officers standing in the street smoking.

“Turpin thinks the overdose was deliberate. He didn’t want to tell you anything because he’s not sure and he didn’t want to jump the gun.”

“So who would …” she replied. “Do you think maybe … Lex?”

“He could have done. I think the detective’s worried that if they’ve gone to such lengths to cover up who was behind the accident then they could come after you again.”

So the detective was trying to protect her, she thought. That made sense. The question was, where did they go from here?

She still wanted to talk to Clark about him moving in with her. She was sure they could work around her father’s presence and Clark’s duties as the Guardian. The last thing she wanted to do was push him into something he wasn’t ready for but he couldn’t stay at Oliver’s place either. Not if what she had seen the night before meant what she thought it did.

She hadn’t meant to pry but she had been helping take some of the boxes upstairs to the guest room and had spied Oliver in the master bedroom. He had a small box in his hand. As she’d watched, he’d opened it and was looking at the contents. The box was about the size of a ring box and had Tiffany’s written in gold on the lid. She’d known for a while things were getting serious between Chloe and her boyfriend and if it really was a ring … Oliver had caught her watching and hastily put the box away. He hadn’t mentioned what she’d seen and she had stayed silent.

Clark nudged her and took her hand as they crossed the street. Lois frowned, realising where they were. The bell jangled as they entered the small shop. Nell had her head bent as she wrote something in a book but she looked up.

“Hey sweetie. What are you two doing here?”

“We were just at the police station,” Lois told her. Nell nodded.

“Clark told me about your accident the other night. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Clark’s been taking good care of me,” she replied with a smile. Nell looked fondly at her foster son.

“He does that.” She looked pointedly at their joined hands. “So, does that mean what I think it means?”

Clark nodded. “Yeah.”

Nell came around the counter and wrapped her arms around Clark, hugging him, before doing the same to Lois.

“I’m so happy for you both.” From her expression, Lois could tell she was thinking it was past time. “How are things at the Planet?”

Lois glanced at Clark, who sighed. “I’m not there anymore. They ended my internship.”

“Oh sweetheart, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. We’ll figure something out,” Lois assured her. The older woman beamed at her.

“I’m sure you will.”

Lois’ phone rang and she left Clark and his foster mother to talk, answering the call.

“Perry?”

“Got a message for you,” he said. He gave her an address. “He can meet you at five. No later.”

“Got it,” she said, grabbing a piece of paper from the counter and noting it down. It was a high-rise downtown, in the financial district. “Thanks Chief.”

Clark paused in his conversation to look at her.

“What was that?” he asked.

“Perry,” she said. “We have an appointment at five. It’s for a story,” she added for Nell’s benefit.

They stayed for a few more minutes chatting to Nell before Lois reluctantly went back to work. Clark promised to meet her outside the building in time to get to their appointment.  
There was no sign of Lex for the rest of the day, which she found a relief. She didn’t want any more dramas from the man. She updated Perry on the accident, making sure he knew the news of the man’s death was off-the-record. She kept the information Clark had overheard to herself, knowing her editor would just press her for more on her mysterious ‘source’.

Clark had changed clothes when she met him outside. He’d been wearing jeans earlier but had changed into a pair of black trousers and a blue shirt that brought out the colour in his eyes. While his eye colour was mostly green, it depended on what he was wearing.

The financial district was far enough that they had to catch a taxi. Lois had thought ahead and called for one to meet them and the driver was right on time. She gave him the address as they got in the back.

“So, who is this appointment with?” Clark asked.

“You’ll see,” she said.

She saw the building as they came to within a block of it. It was at least fifty storeys, a steel and glass construction that looked imposing next to the other, less modern buildings. Lois stared up at it as they got out of the taxi, glancing at the stylised W on the nameplate at the entrance.

A security guard stopped them as they entered.

“Offices are closing in five minutes,” the guard replied.

“Yes, I know, but I have an appointment at five. Lois Lane. Daily Planet. This is my writing partner, Clark Kent.”

The man tapped a few keys on the computer, then nodded. “You’re expected, Miss Lane.” He handed them two visitors’ passes then indicated a bank of elevators. “Take the middle car. 51st floor. I’ll call up and have an assistant meet you.”

“Thank you,” Clark said politely.

They didn’t talk as the elevator made its way upwards. The ceiling showed photographs of the Metropolis cityscape, from a hundred years earlier to present day. Clark appeared fascinated with them.

The ding announced their arrival on the floor and the doors opened to reveal an attractive woman with cocoa-coloured skin and black hair pulled into a French knot.

“Miss Lane, Mr Kent, if you’ll follow me.”

They were led down a corridor through a pair of glass doors which opened automatically. The assistant announced their names to the man sitting behind the desk. He was well-built, although not quite as big as Clark, with dark brown hair and a toothy smile.

He stood up and held out a hand. Lois shook it, then stepped aside to allow Clark to do the same. The man smiled.

“Firm handshake. Sign of character.” He sat down in his high-backed leather chair and looked at them. Lois realised the ball was now firmly in her court. She sat down in the chair facing the desk while Clark sat beside her.

“Thank you for taking the time to see us, Mr Wayne.”


	26. Bruce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The meeting with Bruce Wayne doesn't exactly go as planned.

Bruce Wayne studied them for a long moment.

“I have to admit I was curious,” he said. “The Daily Planet’s foremost investigative reporter wanting to see me. Now what could I possibly have done to merit such a visit?”

“Well, it’s more a mutual thing, Mr Wayne,” Lois said. 

“Please, call me Bruce,” he said. “A lovely lady such as yourself needn’t be so formal. I may have plenty of zeroes in my bank account but I do put my pants on one leg at a time like anyone else.” He leaned forward and winked at her. “Actually, I’m not even sure how many zeroes I have in my bank account. I just spend the money.”

Clark frowned. Not only was Bruce flirting with his girlfriend but he was acting a little like someone who cared little for the business and more about partying. 

Not long after he’d left his girlfriend at work, he’d gone to talk to Oliver in his office at Queen Industries, telling his friend Lois had suggested meeting the Wayne scion. Oliver had an office on the next floor down from the penthouse in the clock tower.

The blond had immediately looked concerned. He’d typed something on his keyboard and brought an image up on the 50-inch screen. Clark saw a list of company names.

“That’s a list of Wayne Enterprises’ holdings,” his friend told him. “But nowhere on that list does it mention Bruce Wayne in charge. He’s more like, a figurehead. He spends the money while he leave someone else to do all the work.” The other man looked at him. “Are you sure Lois has done her research?”

“I guess so,” he said, his heart sinking. “I mean, maybe she didn’t have that long, but …”

Oliver brought something else up. An old newspaper article from two years earlier. Drunken Billionaire Burns Down Home.

“Great!” Clark said with a sigh. 

“Mr … Kent?”

He looked up, realising he’d tuned out while Lois was talking to Bruce. 

“Excuse me?” he said.

“Lois was just telling me about your situation.”

“About the internship,” she said.

“As I was saying, Lois, I really don’t know what you think I can do about that.”

“Are you saying you’re not interested in the fact that Lex Luthor’s purchase of the Daily Planet was probably illegal, or that he’s firing people he thinks could cause him trouble? Clark isn’t the only person he’s done it to. There are at least a dozen people who were laid off when he took over as publisher.”

Clark glanced at his girlfriend. She hadn’t told him about the lay-offs although he’d heard vague grumblings when he’d started his internship. One person had even suggested he was a spy for Lex, although they hadn’t known he’d heard it. 

How could he explain to them that the only reason he’d even been given the opportunity in the first place was that Lex had done it as a favour, clearly hoping Clark would sell the farm. 

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do but what makes you think I’m interested in owning the Daily Planet?”

“Aside from the fact that your media division is Luthor’s biggest rival?” Lois pointed out. 

Wayne raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Is it?” He chuckled. “Well, isn’t that interesting? I had no idea.”

Clark stared at him. “You don’t know what goes on in your own company?” he asked.

“Well, last I checked, I had about thirty-odd different divisions. My CEO keeps track of all that.”

“While you spend your time doing … what? Burning down your house? Absconding with a ballet troupe?” Clark accused. 

He caught a flash of anger before the other man smiled. 

“Well, dear me, is that what they say about me in the papers?”

Lois looked pissed as she rose to her feet.

“Well, I can see I’m just wasting my time!” she said. “I read those articles but I thought I’d give you the benefit of the doubt. It seems those reporters were telling the truth after all!”

She turned to leave and Clark got up to follow her. Bruce intercepted her.

“I’m sorry to have disappointed you, Miss Lane. Can I make it up to you? Over dinner, perhaps?”

She glared at him. “Thank you, but no. I have a boyfriend.”

“Really? Someone is brave enough to handle the impressive Lois Lane? I’d be very interested to meet this fellow.”

Clark shot a glare at him. For a moment, he thought he saw a smirk on the other man’s face but it was quickly hidden. 

“Bravery had nothing to do with it, Mr Wayne,” he said, giving the man no doubt who he was. “Besides, it’s really none of your business, now is it?” He walked out to join Lois but decided to use his super-hearing. 

“Well-played, Mr Kent,” Bruce murmured. 

Lois began to rant as soon as they got in the elevator. Clark let her get it out of her system, thinking over what had happened in that office. He had a strange feeling that Wayne was putting on some kind of act. It was nothing he could really put his finger on except the odd expressions he’d noticed which were quickly hidden. They had barely been flashes and probably something not even an expert in body language would have noticed. Only someone with his abilities could have caught them. 

Should he mention it to Lois? He glanced at her. She’d fallen silent and appeared to be brooding. They were partners now. Which meant they shared everything. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

He put a hand on her arm, shaking his head. “Let’s wait until we get h … back to your apartment.” He didn’t know if she’d noticed the little slip. 

He’d talked to Chloe the night before, after everything that had happened with his apartment and she had quietly told him not to rule out living with Lois. Sure, the general coming to stay for a while could be a problem, but that was something he needed to work out with his girlfriend. Especially if they were considering a commitment. 

“I need to go shopping,” Lois said with a sigh. “I’ve got nothing except tv dinners at home. We can’t get takeout every night.”

“No. How about we go to the store and get something for dinner. Something fairly easy that we can cook together?”

She looked dubious, biting her lip. “Are you sure you want me near the kitchen? I tend to burn things.”

“I don’t think it’s a lack of skill, honey. More a lack of attention. Remember the lasagne?”

“All I did was chop garlic and onion and stuff!” she said in protest.

“You still helped.”

They went to the nearest market and bought a few things before catching a taxi back to the apartment. Clark had decided on steaks with garlic butter and baby potatoes, carrots and beans. The steaks wouldn’t take very long to cook and they would be able to sit down and discuss things once they’d eaten. 

Lois went to change her clothes, not wanting to get them soiled while they cooked the food. She came back out wearing an oversized man’s plaid shirt and leggings. She’d taken off her make-up and put her hair up into a messy ponytail. Clark grinned at her. 

“What?” she said. “Did I forget something?”

“You look cute like that,” he said. 

She kissed him. “You, Mr Kent, are going to get so lucky saying things like that.”

He looked down at her. “Really, Miss Lane? Well, I happen to think I’m pretty lucky already.”

She lowered her eyes coyly, her long lashes brushing her cheeks. Clark wanted to forget all about dinner and pick her up in his arms, carry her to the bedroom and make mad, passionate love. 

“Oh, the pan’s sizzling,” Lois said. 

Clark turned back to the pan, which he’d already set on the heat. “Right.” He turned back to the counter where he’d placed the chopping board and the vegetables. They set about their respective tasks, then he taught her how to tell when everything was cooked. 

Half an hour later the kitchen was cleaned and the dishes were in the dishwasher. Lois took their glasses of wine into the living room. She put her glass on the coffee table and sat on the couch, leaning one arm on the back as she faced him.

“Okay, you want to tell me what was bothering you about Bruce Wayne?”

“Other than the fact he was flirting with you that whole time? I don’t think he was being completely up-front.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Little flashes, I guess. Just micro-seconds where his expression would change. He’s good, don’t get me wrong. He can hide his emotions like a pro, but I noticed a few things.”

“Well, I guess you would,” she said. “I mean, with your powers and everything.”

“Another thing that bothered me is, if he doesn’t pay any attention to what goes on in his own company, what is he doing here in the first place?”

“Actually, I can answer that. There’s some kind of charity ball on Friday. One of those things that costs like twenty grand a ticket.”

“But that’s three days away,” Clark pointed out. 

“That is true,” she conceded. She shrugged. “You’re right. It doesn’t make much sense.”

“For a guy who, according to his own press, is more interested in frivolous pursuits, why did he even agree to meet with us?”

“Maybe that’s something we can look into. Or you, I guess. I’m probably skating on thin ice as it is where Lex is concerned. I don’t want to give him more reason to spy on me.” She scowled. “Did you know he planted spyware in my computer? Chloe had a look at it earlier and she told me it could only have come from an inside source.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” he returned. He finished his wine and started to get up. “I should go patrol.”

Lois looked disappointed. “Do you have to?”

He nodded. “Yeah. No rest for the wicked.”

He left the apartment shortly after, speeding to Oliver’s apartment to change clothes. As he entered, he saw Chloe and Oliver making out on the couch. 

“Uh, sorry,” he said, feeling his cheeks redden. While they hadn’t shed their clothes, buttons had been undone and Oliver’s hand had been stroking his girlfriend in a very intimate place. 

Chloe looked around. Her face was red and her lips were swollen, but her eyes were sparkling. 

“Guess what?” she said, ignoring the fact that she was half-undressed. She waved her left hand so Clark couldn’t possibly miss the sparkler on her ring finger. 

“Congratulations,” he said with a smile. “That’s great. I’m really happy for you guys.” He scratched his lip. “I don’t want to interrupt your celebrations. I was just going to change my clothes and go out and patrol.”

“Need any help?” Oliver asked.

“No. I’ll be fine.”

He went upstairs, sighing. This was exactly what he had been talking about when he’d mentioned his worries about moving in, albeit temporarily, with Oliver. They were entitled to their privacy. 

He really was happy for them in their engagement. Chloe had been smiling a lot more since she’d been seeing Oliver. After her break-up with Jimmy, make that Henry, Olsen, she hadn’t dated much. 

He left via the terrace, walking out quietly making sure he didn’t interrupt the couple again. He needn’t have worried. They’d obviously taken it to the bedroom. 

Patrol was fairly uneventful. A couple of carjackings, a mugging, but nothing noteworthy. He walked the streets, listening for any sounds of trouble but began to get the feeling that he was being watched. He stopped walking and looked around, then up. On top of a tall building was a dark figure with what looked like pointed ears on the head and a long cloak. 

They couldn’t possibly have noticed him watching at this distance but as he debated whether to fly up to the top of the building, the figure turned, spreading his cloak so it looked like wings. Clark frowned. It reminded him of a bat. 

Batman?

The real question was, was Batman following him? If so, did he know Clark’s identity as The Guardian?

***

Lois had felt restless after Clark had left to go patrol. She didn’t feel like watching tv and decided to open up her laptop. She hadn’t done all that much research on Bruce Wayne but after what her boyfriend had told her about the man, she wanted to see if she could dig up any dirt. 

Clark was right, she thought. There had to be another reason Bruce had come to Metropolis. There was no way he was here just for a charity ball. Yet not even a friend of hers at the Inquisitor could come up with an answer. 

As she dug deeper, looking up old articles on Bruce Wayne, it left her with more questions. The billionaire had disappeared for a few years, turning up right around the time the authorities would have had to declare him dead. Lois had found an article which, following the dismissal of Wayne Enterprises’ CEO, William Earle, had stated that Earle had tried to expedite proceedings on some kind of scheme he was involving the company in. Obviously any possibility of Bruce being alive at that time would have caused the equivalent of a bureaucratic nightmare. 

Where had Bruce been for several years? Come to that, had he returned because of the problems in the corporation? If so, why did he pretend ignorance about company matters? 

Argh, she thought, smacking her head on the table in frustration. 

Sighing, she closed the laptop. Wayne obviously had his reasons for his rejection but it was still disappointing. 

She sat back, chewing on the tip of her thumbnail. Clark would probably scold her for biting her nails but it was better than smoking.

They would have to find another way to get to the truth about Lex, she thought. She got up and went to the fridge to pour herself a glass of juice. As she drank, she picked up her phone and began scrolling through her messages. There was one from Jimmy Olsen. 

Lois accessed her contacts list and pressed the icon to call a number.

“Olsen? Lane. I need a favour.”

She knew it would take at least a couple of days to get what she wanted. Meanwhile she went to work and continued to write articles which had nothing to do with Lex or his nefarious intentions. 

Chloe stopped by her office the next day. Lois looked at her, thinking there was something different about her cousin.

“Hey, Chlo. What’s up?”

“Um, do you and Clark have plans tonight? He didn’t say whether you had plans when he left this morning. I hope you don’t have plans.”

“Sweetie, you’re babbling.”

Her blonde cousin sighed. “Yeah, I know. But do you?”

“No. Clark didn’t say anything when he left to go … when he left last night,” she amended, realising she needed to be careful what she said about him within the belly of the beast, so to speak. “Uh, so what was he doing this morning?”

“I think he had an appointment with an employment agency. I guess. I didn’t ask, but he mentioned something to Oliver. Anyway, we wanted to invite you to dinner. At the apartment. Will you come?”

Hmm, let’s see, she thought. A night cuddled up on the couch with Clark or dinner with her favourite cousin, Oliver and her boyfriend? Gee, decisions, she thought. 

Chloe continued to stare at her. “Lo?”

“Of course I’ll come, silly,” she said. The blonde looked relieved. Lois wondered what she had to be so anxious about. 

She found out when she turned up at the apartment. No sooner had she walked in the door when Oliver was handing out glasses of champagne. From the look on Clark’s face, he knew what it was about, but Lois was still mystified.

“I just want to propose a toast,” Oliver said, raising his glass. “To Chloe, who last night agreed to take me on for the rest of her life.”

“Are you kidding me?” Lois practically squealed. She hugged her cousin as soon as the toast was done. “This is what had you so jumpy?”

“Believe me, it was really tough keeping it a secret from everyone when I wanted to shout it from the top of the Planet’s globe,” Chloe replied. 

Lois wasn’t even going to mention that she knew it had been in the pipeline. She hugged her cousin again and dutifully admired the ring. She hugged Oliver as well, then punched him on the shoulder. 

“Course, you do anything to hurt her, you got me to answer to,” she warned him. 

“Lois,” Clark said, grinning at her and shaking his head. 

Lex came into her office late Thursday afternoon and threw a couple of tickets on her desk. She frowned at them, picking them up. 

“Tickets to the charity ball at the Lexor Hotel?” she asked.

“Someone needs to cover it for the paper. The tickets are complimentary. I thought you and I …”

She tried not to appear too enthusiastic but it was the perfect opportunity for her and Clark to observe Bruce Wayne and see if they could figure out what he was up to. She huffed in a pretence of annoyance. 

“I’ll go, but I’ll be taking Clark,” she told him firmly. 

“Clark is no longer an employee with this paper.” He reached out to take the spare ticket. 

“Lex, if you want me to cover this thing and write fluff pieces, then I get to choose who I take,” she returned, challenging him to argue with her. “Besides, these tickets include a plus one.”

“Fine!” he said. He looked steadily at her, his tone almost cautious as he spoke again. “I would have thought this was hardly Clark’s style.”

“You don’t know anything about Clark.”

“Apparently not. Still, I wonder if you really know your boyfriend as well as you think you do.”

She knew no matter how she responded, Lex would try to put words in her mouth, so she opted not to say anything. He walked out with a smirk on his face. She scowled, grabbing a piece of paper and imagining it as Lex’s bald head, screwing it up in her hand. 

She called Clark and told him about the ball. 

“You’ll have to rent a tux,” she said. “It’s black tie.”

“Okay. I’ll find something.”

She mentally assessed her wardrobe, realising she would need an evening gown. She stood up to grab her bag, deciding she had to go shopping. As she reached the lobby to leave the building, Olsen ran up to her. He sounded breathless.

“I got those …”

She shook her head. “Don’t have time for that,” she said. “Come by my apartment later.”

She groaned quietly to herself as she walked down Broadway. He should have known better. When she’d told him what she wanted him to do, she’d made sure he knew not to say anything to anyone at the Planet. The last thing she wanted was for Lex to find out she was investigating him. 

As she browsed through the stores looking for a dress to wear that night, she mulled over some of the things Lex had said. He’d been making loaded comments about Clark, which to her implied that he knew a lot more than he was saying about her boyfriend. 

She decided she needed to warn Clark. Maybe get him to look into moving the ship somehow, although how he was going to transport it from the farm all the way to the North Pole was a conundrum. 

He turned up with more groceries that evening, planning to cook dinner for the two of them. She sat at the counter and watched him work, admiring the play of his muscles beneath the t-shirt he was wearing. He paused and looked at her. 

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Watching you.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think?” she said. She deliberately raked her gaze over his body, grinning as he appeared to blush. “You’re so cute when you blush.”

“You are a very bad girl, Miss Lane.”

She started to respond with another teasing remark when someone knocked on her door. Clark lowered his glasses. 

“It’s Jimmy,” he said. 

She got off the stool and went to answer the door. Jimmy stood fidgeting on the doorstep. He was holding a packet in his hands.

“Uh, so I got what you, uh … hey, CK.”

“What’s in the packet?” Clark asked.

Lois looked at her boyfriend. “Uh, I asked Jimmy to do a little, um, spying.”

“Spying?”

She nodded. “You know how we suspected not everything was kosher about the sale of the Planet? I had Jimmy follow around a couple of the ex-board members.” She opened the packet to look at the photos, then glanced at Jimmy. “You didn’t print these at the Planet, did you?”

The youth shook his head. “No, of course not. I have a friend who has a top-of-the-line printer. I just have to pay him for the toner. Uh, speaking of which …”

“Oh. Wait a sec. Let me get my bag. How much did we agree on?”

“A hundred?”

“For what?” Clark asked as Lois opened her purse and handed Jimmy a couple of notes. “Lois?”

She looked at her partner guiltily. “Um …” She turned back to Jimmy. “Don’t tell anyone, remember? Not even Perry.”

Jimmy bit his lip, looking worried. “Uh, yeah. But what if he asks?”

“Lie. Tell him you were doing a freelance job. Just don’t tell him it was for me. All right?” Well, it was technically true. Not that she thought Perry wouldn’t understand once he learned why she had done it.

Jimmy left and she opened the packet. Clark was still looking at her disapprovingly.

“Don’t look at me like that. I knew you wouldn’t approve which is why I didn’t tell you. I did this for us.”

“What exactly did you do?” She shuffled through the pile of photographs as she spoke.

“I asked Jimmy to follow around a couple of the ex-board members. I figured Lex either blackmailed them or bribed them to force them to give up their shares in the paper. And I was right,” she added, showing him one of the photos. 

One of the men had been photographed entering the Windgate Club, a gentlemen’s club notorious for employing underage girls as strippers as well as looking the other way when men hired the girls for sex. The owners had been arrested several times but nothing seemed to stick. 

“Who’s that?” Clark asked.

“McCullough,” she told him. “This gives us enough to make him tell us the truth about how Lex took over the Planet. The Windgate was under investigation a few years ago when they found out a diplomat was involved in human trafficking. He was paying the owners for the girls, figuring no one would miss them, since they were strippers. Turns out one of the girls was involved with a senator and even though it wrecked his reputation, he got police to investigate when the girl was murdered. It was all over the papers.”

“What happened to the diplomat?” Clark asked.

“Someone sent evidence to the president of his country and the authorities there arrested him. From what I heard the president didn’t appreciate bad publicity.” She shrugged. “Anyway, the club’s reputation has gone downhill since then. Not that it was ever five star to begin with.”

Her boyfriend still looked dubious. “I don’t know. Blackmail, Lois?”

“It’s not blackmail!” she said. “All we’re asking for is the truth. If we can get enough evidence, we can take it further.” She was sure there was some kind of regulatory authority that could look into it. Then again, there was always the FBI. 

She turned to Clark. “Honey, I know you’re worried but this might be the only way to get the evidence. I mean, if we just talked to McCullough, he’d deny everything. This gives us a bit of leverage.”

He nodded, clearly still not happy with what she’d done but dropped the subject, going back into the kitchen to cook their dinner.

The next evening, he arrived early so they could go to the charity ball together. As Lois opened the door, she stared. Clark was a good-looking man but in a tux he looked incredible. 

“Wow!” she said.

He was also staring at her with an expression which showed he appreciated what he saw. She had picked out a long gown in a gold silk with a plunging neckline. The gown was embellished with Victorian-style embroidery. She had opted for a classic look with her make-up, emphasising her hazel eyes with gold eyeshadow and light mascara to highlight her long eyelashes. She’d curled her hair and pinned its length back so it was off her face.

“You look beautiful,” Clark said. 

She grinned and picked up her matching clutch purse, making sure she had her keys and the tickets.

“Let’s get this show on the road,” she said.


	27. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark overhears something at the ball. Bruce isn't very subtle. Lois takes action.

They had opted for a taxi to go to the ball. As it reached the hotel, Clark noticed a few limousines waiting in line to drop off their passengers. A crowd was gathered behind velvet ropes hoping to get a glimpse of a famous person as they emerged from each vehicle. 

He got out first, holding out a hand to help his girlfriend alight from the taxi. Arm in arm, they walked up the red carpet, ignoring the murmurs from the crowd, obviously wondering who they were. 

A man at the entrance to the lobby stopped them. “Name?”

“Lois Lane. Daily Planet. This is my partner, Clark Kent.”

The man looked down at his tablet screen and used a stylus to scroll through the list.

“Yes, Miss Lane. Go right in and present your ticket to the hostess.”

“Thank you,” Clark said politely, not sure he liked the way the man was eyeing his girlfriend. 

Lois nudged him. “Honey,” she said, loud enough to make it clear to the man she was definitely taken. 

Clark took her wrap and handed it to the girl at the coat check while Lois waited patiently, looking over to the door to see if she could identify anyone else coming in. As he took his ticket from the girl, he saw Lex enter with a brunette. The bald man paused in the entry to send them both a glare before quickly hiding his expression. Lois had clearly seen it as she stepped over to him and smiled and waved at Lex. 

They walked into the ballroom together, handing the ticket to the hostess. A waiter was already circulating with glasses of champagne on a tray. Lois took two glasses and handed him one. 

Clark followed her into the middle of the room and stood quietly as she greeted one of the guests, using the opportunity to look around. He spotted Bruce Wayne with a woman he recognised as a socialite. The woman looked bored as the Gotham billionaire chatted with a senator. 

“Would you care for some hors d’oeuvres?” a waiter asked. Clark looked around, stunned to discover Bart standing beside him with a tray of food. 

“Bart? What are you doing here?”

“Trying to make some extra dosh,” the speedster replied. He leaned forward and spoke confidentially. “Actually, Ollie set it up. He figured we could pick up on some things.”

“We?” Clark asked.

“Vic’s here too.” Bart grinned as Lois turned to them. “Hola chica. You’re looking muy Bueno.”

“Chica?” she said, cocking an eyebrow. She helped herself to a cracker spread with some kind of paté. 

“Meant in the best possible sense of the word, I’m sure,” Clark said, smiling at Bart while taking a canape. The younger man grinned back and moved away to serve another guest. 

“Lois! Clark!”

Clark grinned at Chloe, who looked stunning in a green Grecian-styled gown. She’d added extensions to her hair and put it up in an elegant knot. Oliver stood beside his fiancée.

The cousins hugged while Clark shook Oliver’s hand.

“Must say, you clean up nice, Clark,” Chloe observed. “Don’t you agree, Lois?”

“More than nice,” his girlfriend murmured, her gaze raking over him with an unmistakeable look of desire. 

Clark grinned at her. While she talked with her cousin, he looked over her shoulder and spotted Bruce exchanging words with Lex. From the bald man’s expression, the conversation was not pleasant. He turned his head, filtering out all the sounds in the room and focusing on the two men in the far corner.

“If you think I’m going to just give up the Daily Planet to Wayne Entertainment …” the bald billionaire was saying.

“I really have no clue what you’re talking about, Luthor.”

“I know Lois Lane met with you the other day.”

“Yes, she did. We were having a very pleasant chat. She wanted to do an article on me. Of course, I had to decline.”

“That isn’t what I heard. Don’t let Lane put ideas in your head, Wayne. If I didn’t have further use for her, I would have fired her months ago.”

“I really don’t know where you get your information, Luthor. You sound rather defensive. Even paranoid, perhaps. In my experience, that usually means you have something to hide. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a lovely young lady waiting for me.”

“This isn’t over, Wayne.”

“If you have matters you wish to discuss, then I do think you’d be better served talking to my CEO about it. I’m sure you’re familiar with Lucius Fox. As I keep telling you, I have absolutely no interest in the business, other than spending the profits, of course.”

Damn, Clark thought. The man never quits. 

It was obvious, right from the start when Lex had cooked up the scheme to ensure Sam Lane’s disappearance, that he’d been doing it to manipulate Lois. He was still trying to manipulate her. 

“Clark? Honey?”

He turned to look at his girlfriend. Chloe and Oliver were now chatting to someone else and Lois had paused in her own conversation with a man Clark recognised from the dinner party he’d gone to with Nell a few months earlier. 

“You remember General Cohen?” Lois said.

Clark nodded and shook the man’s hand firmly. “How are you, sir?”

“I’m well, thank you. Good handshake, son. I hope you’re looking after our Lois.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Excellent. Lois, will you please tell your father to give me a call when he gets back into town.” He winked. “You know us old warhorses like to exchange war stories.”

“Yes, and they get bigger every time I have to hear them,” she returned, chuckling. 

Laughing, the general moved away. Lois leaned into him.

“What was that all about?” she asked. 

He frowned at her. “What?”

“You were doing that head-tilt thing. Were you listening to something?”

“Yeah. Bruce and Lex.” He told her what he’d overheard. 

“Gee, paranoid much?” she asked. “I wonder if there is any truth to it?”

“I don’t know. I mean, the other day Bruce denied any knowledge of what’s been going on at the Planet, but I still get the feeling he knows more than he’s letting on.”

“Yeah, me too,” she said. “I don’t think we should confront him, though. Let’s just keep playing his game and see if he trips himself up.”

Clark doubted it. The man was too clever for that. She had the right idea, though, he thought. Bruce Wayne wasn’t about to admit anything and a confrontation would get them nowhere. 

Speak of the devil. The Gotham billionaire turned from talking to one of the other guests to greet them.

“Miss Lane, Mr Kent. What a surprise to see the two of you here.”

“Well, of course, this is a newsworthy event,” Lois explained. 

“Yes, of course. Mr Kent, I was thinking about your situation. Never let it be said that I ignore the plight of those in need.”

Lois looked at him. “You were considering the Daily Planet?” she asked.

“No, no, no. I was actually thinking more along the lines of an appointment with my HR manager in Wayne Entertainment. I can’t promise anything, but do say you’ll consider it. I did hear something about a job at the Tribune.”

“The Gotham Tribune?” Clark asked. “Thanks, but I live here.”

“You shouldn’t limit your options, Mr Kent. Lord knows, the economy is hardly booming right now.”

“Hmm, how would you know from looking down on us in your ivory tower, Mr Wayne?” Lois replied with more than a little snark in her tone.

“Touche, Miss Lane. However, I am not as out of touch as you might presume.” He smirked. “The thing about being up so high is you get an interesting view from above. One never knows what one might see.” 

Clark frowned as the other man sent him a meaningful look before walking away. Did it mean what he thought it meant? How was that even possible?

Lois clutched his arm. “Okay, I think I’ve been hanging around Lex Luthor too long because that sounded like a very pointed barb aimed at you. I can read between the lines, Smallville and I don’t think he was even trying to be subtle. How did he know?”

“I don’t know, Lois, but I have to find out.”

She frowned. “Does everyone know your secret? I mean, am I the last to know?”

“Lois, you are the one person I have actually told my secret. Chloe found out by accident and Oliver …”

“What? How did he find out?”

He pulled her aside, making sure they were out of earshot.

“It was that night at the Westcott mansion. I went after the Green Arrow, not knowing it was Oliver. He later told me something and I should have been paying attention.”

“What?”

“Facial recognition,” he said. “If someone like Lex were to get hold of a photograph of the Guardian, they could use facial recognition to identify me.”

“But you wear glasses when you’re not … that doesn’t make any sense. I mean, do you really think someone’s going to wait for you to stop long enough so they could figure out who you are?”

“Why not? Lex would,” he pointed out. “Lois, think about it. Imaging technology has become more and more sophisticated. Maybe I can speed away but what if somebody did manage to get a shot of me in the second or two I slow down? They could sell the shot to the highest bidder.”

“Well, then, we need to do something about that. Something to counter it. You can’t stop being the Guardian, Clark. I won’t let you. It’s like I said a few weeks ago. Metropolis needs the Guardian. They need something to believe in. You give them that.”

“I know,” he said. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to stop doing what I’m doing. I do think you have a point. We need to think of something that will maybe alter the image.”

She nodded and sighed. “So, what does this have to do with Bruce Wayne and what he said?”

“I think we need to do a little more digging into the Prince of Gotham,” he said. 

“Ooh,” she replied excitedly. She was practically bouncing up and down in her excitement. “Time for a little covert action.”

Oh, great, he thought. Lois and the phrase covert action did not mix well. 

When they returned to her apartment, Lois sat down at the table and powered up her laptop. Clark sat next to her and watched as she pulled up a file. It was a profile on Bruce Wayne.

“Okay, so just over two years ago Bruce turned up out of nowhere. He’d been missing for almost seven years.”

“The authorities would have had to declare him dead,” Clark mused. 

“Sure. You know about the kerfuffle with Bill Earle. Since then, Bruce has been in the papers a few times. Most of them involve some kind of drunken behaviour.”

Clark nodded and skimmed a few of the articles. “He’s quoted here as saying he’s not interested in running Wayne Enterprises. He’s mentioned that a couple of times – like the other day and tonight with Lex.”

He frowned, continuing to read. It seemed an odd thing for the man to emphasise. Considering how deceptively smart he was, Clark wondered if there was more to it. 

“What if there’s more to Bruce Wayne than just a playboy?” he asked. “I mean, what if he’s not interested in running the company because he has interests elsewhere?”

“Like what?” she asked. “I mean, drunken parties and rich boy antics aside, what possible reason could he have?”

“What’s that article say?” He pointed to what looked like a feature article. He quickly read it. “Did you know his parents were murdered?”

“I knew something about it, but I didn’t know the full story. Why?”

“This was from just before he disappeared,” he said. “It’s an article about the trial of a man named Joe Chill.”

He read out loud. 

The crowd stood in shock as police and security tackled the woman to the ground. The whispered tones reflected the incredulity of those who could not believe what they had just witnessed. The man who had been convicted for the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne 11 years earlier had been shot dead, the shooter conveying a message. ‘Carmine says hello’.

At the back of the crowd, the victims’ only son, Bruce Wayne, 21-year-old heir to a multi-billion-dollar fortune, also stared in disbelief. He’d supposedly come today to testify, to plea for the continued incarceration of Joe Chill. 

As the crowd continued to gather, the Wayne scion turned on his heel and left the courthouse.

“It says there was some kind of incident at a local club that night,” Clark read on. “There was speculation Carmine Falcone had Bruce killed or made him disappear.”

“I guess that wasn’t the case,” Lois replied. “I wonder where he disappeared to for seven years.”

“That still doesn’t explain how he knew about me, if that was really what he was referring to.”

“We’ll find out,” she said. 

“You have something in mind?”

She smirked. “Yep, I do.”

***

Lois liked to bend the rules sometimes, especially when she needed to get information that wasn’t readily available. Like, for instance, a coroner’s report.

Clark looked dubious. “I don’t know. I’ve been thinking. I mean, maybe we shouldn’t be investigating Bruce. We’re supposed to be going after Lex.”

She looked at him incredulously. Just a few hours earlier he was the one suggesting they do a little more digging into Bruce. She shouldn’t have to explain things to him, but he was still a rookie at investigative reporting and hadn’t quite learned Lois Lane’s rules to go along with it.

She should have given him a list. “Rule number three in reporting. ‘Do whatever it takes to get the story’,” she said. He blinked and stared at her with a confused expression. “Haven’t you ever read a mystery novel? A good detective investigates every lead, no matter where it takes them. And this is a lead.” 

“I don’t know,” he said with a sigh. “Aren’t we invading his privacy?”

“No more than he’s done to you if what he said tonight is any indication. This is not just about getting Lex. It’s about protecting your secret.”

He bit his lip but nodded. “All right. We’ll do this your way.”

She beamed. “Great.” She glanced at the clock in the corner of the screen. “It’s really late. Do you want to meet me at Wayne Tower tomorrow?”

He nodded in assent and rose from his chair, going to the door. He began to unlock the deadlocks but turned and strode purposefully back to her. 

“I’ve neglected to do one thing, tonight,” he said. He pulled her up out of the chair and into his arms. She moaned as he kissed her lips, wrapping her arms around his neck as the kiss deepened. She was dazed when they separated.

He smiled lovingly down at her. “You really do look beautiful in that dress. Goodnight, love. I’ll see you in the morning.”

She was left to stare almost dumbfounded at the door as he left, still dazed by his kiss. She went to the door and locked it, turning and leaning her back against the door, sighing. Damn, the man could take her breath away. 

She was woken early the next morning by her phone ringing. “Lois Lane,” she said sleepily.

“Hi sweetheart.”

She sat up. “Daddy!”

“I just wanted to let you know I’ll be leaving on the train in about half an hour, so I should be in Metropolis early this afternoon.”

“That’s great, Dad. I’ll check the train schedule and we’ll pick you up.”

“We?”

“Me and Clark. We … well …” Her father chuckled as if he understood perfectly.

“Okay, sweetheart. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“I love you, Dad. Kiss Lucy and the baby for me.”

“I love you too, Lo.”

She hung up and hurriedly got out of bed, going to the bathroom to shower. She was meeting Clark in an hour. She usually had a habit of being late to things, especially when she was scrambling to meet her deadline, but this was important and she didn’t want to be late. 

Clark was waiting for her near the back entrance to the building. He had obviously given a lot of thought to his appearance as he’d opted not to wear his glasses. His hair was not neatly combed in that nerdy style he’d adopted at the Planet and he was wearing a cotton shirt with pants. 

“How exactly do you plan on getting into the building?” he asked.

That was the tricky part. Lois had managed to build up a small network of contacts and had been able to commandeer several different security cards. She had one for the hospital, another for a couple of police precincts, City Hall and even one for LexCorp. What she didn’t have was one for Wayne Tower.

“Well, I don’t have a security card,” she said. “And I don’t think I can pick the lock with a hairpin.” She looked at him. “Do you think you could maybe …”

He looked around and above them. She wondered if he was checking for any kind of surveillance. Then she felt as if a sudden breeze had blown up, ruffling her hair, which she had secured in a tight ponytail. Yet he looked as if he hadn’t moved.

“What did you …”

“Come on,” he said, taking her hand. She followed him around the corner to the door which was now unlocked. The access panel beside it looked fried. “Hopefully they’ll think it just short-circuited,” he murmured. 

They entered the building, finding themselves in a stairwell. There was a door which led down a corridor to the lobby and the bank of elevators. One flight of stairs led down to the basement parking while the stairs above led to the offices on each floor. Lois looked uncertainly above. 

I didn’t think this through, she thought. There was no way they’d be able to walk up fifty flights of stairs undetected. 

Clark had obviously already considered that. “Come here,” he whispered. He wrapped his arms around her. “Hold onto me and don’t let go. You might want to close your eyes,” he suggested. 

She did so, feeling almost like she was flying. It took merely seconds before he was telling her to open her eyes. She stared almost in disbelief at the sign above the door indicating the 51st floor.

“Wow!”

Clark was peering at the closed door. She frowned, wondering what he was doing. 

“Clark?”

“Just checking the coast is clear,” he said.

“How? There’s no window.”

“X-ray vision. Well, that’s what I like to call it.”

She stared at him, then remembered the night of the accident when he’d mentioned her bruises to Chloe. “So you can see through anything?”

“Anything except lead,” he told her. He grabbed the door handle and pushed down. 

Lois heard a click before the door opened. She followed him out to the corridor. 

“You know, you’re handy to have around,” she said.

He grinned at her. “You just brought me along to be the muscle, didn’t you?”

She leaned forward and kissed him. “You know you’re more than that.”

She was relieved when she saw Bruce’s office was empty. 

“What are you hoping to find?” Clark asked.

“I don’t know. I’ll know it when I see it, I guess.”

She began searching the cabinets, then the desk. The drawers were locked but it was just a matter of her picking the lock. She rifled the drawers, only finding a remote.

“There’s something behind here,” Clark said in a loud whisper. She looked up. He was examining the wall which she had assumed was the outer wall. 

“Like a vault, maybe?”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t look like a vault.”

She looked down at the remote control in her hands. It appeared to be a normal remote for heating devices but maybe it wasn’t, she thought. She pressed a button in the middle of the console. There was a quiet beep then a door revealed itself in the wall, sliding aside. 

She blinked and stared at what had been stored in the hidden room. 

“Oh my god!”

“You know, most people actually ask before they go and invade someone’s privacy!”

Startled, Lois dropped the remote and whirled, staring at Bruce in the doorway. 

“Wha … um, you, I …”

He smoothly entered the room and picked up the remote, gesturing with it as if scolding a naughty child.

“I would have thought you were smarter than that, Ms Lane. You too, Mr Kent,” he said, turning to look at Clark. “It seems I was being far too subtle last night.”

“Subtle? You call making a veiled threat subtle?” she accused.

Bruce pressed the button on the remote and the panel slid back, hiding the contents of the room. 

“What exactly is Batman doing in the city, anyway?” Clark asked.

The other man raised an eyebrow. “Since when is Metropolis the exclusive territory of the Guardian? Do you have a problem with it?”

The two men glared at each other. Lois gathered her wits and got in between them.

“Now, before you two go and start a pissing contest, Clark asked you a perfectly reasonable question. What are you, I mean, what is Batman doing here?”

“I came to find out why someone like Lex Luthor would hire a man from Gotham to stage an accident. Sadly, I doubt I’m going to get my answers, since he’s dead.”

“You knew the man?” Clark asked.

“Knew of him. He was basically a go-to guy for the local mob.” Bruce moved by Lois to sit down in his leather chair. “Since you’re here, we might as well order some coffee. I’m normally not up this early,” he added with a sigh. “But my security alerted me to your break-in.” He shook his head and smirked. “For someone with as many powers as you have, Mr Kent, you’re not exactly careful.”

“I checked for surveillance,” Clark replied.

“Not hard enough,” the other man responded. “I wasn’t just talking about today, either. I’ve been observing the activities of the Guardian for some time. I had my suspicions, but it wasn’t until the other night that I confirmed your identity.”

Lois sat down as Bruce ordered coffee for all of them. 

“So, if you’ve known about the Guardian, why now?”

“Unlike you, Lois, I do actually respect someone’s space.” He raised his hands at his glare. “Don’t get me wrong. I admire your spirit and your tenacity, but one day you might find yourself on the wrong end of someone else’s version of security. Like Lex Luthor, for one.”

“So, why the act the other day?” she asked. 

“People tend to see what they want to see,” he replied. “If they see me as some empty-headed playboy only interested in getting drunk and partying the night away, then they’re less likely to make the connection to Batman. I’m sure you understand how that works, Clark.” He smiled at Lois.

“Besides, I wanted to see what you would do. How far you were willing to go to protect your boyfriend here.”

Clark nodded. “I’m guessing you got your answer today.”

Bruce returned the nod. “I did indeed. I congratulate you, Mr Kent. I suppose I’m somewhat of a cynic when it comes to love and relationships but I’m not so much of a cynic that I can’t recognise the real deal. The fact that she would go out on a limb like this to protect you is admirable.”

The assistant came in with a tray of coffee cups and a coffee pot. They sat silently as she poured coffee for each of them. 

As soon as she was gone, Lois leaned forward and looked steadily at Bruce.

“I find it a little hard to believe you came here to investigate my accident,” she said. “What’s the real reason?”

The Gotham knight raised an eyebrow and smirked at Clark. “Oh, she’s quick, isn’t she?” He sat back and sipped his coffee. “You’re right. There is a lot more to it. And your father has everything to do with it.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Wayne Enterprises is first and foremost a military contractor. We have a lot of contacts within the armed forces themselves, both nationally and internationally. Jake Cohen contacted me when he heard General Lane had gone missing and asked Lucius to get in touch with some of our contacts in Afghanistan. What they heard concerned me a great deal.”

So that was what General Cohen was doing at the charity ball the night before, Lois thought. She’d wondered why he was there as it didn’t seem like something her father’s friend would be interested in.

“So, you know Lex was behind the disappearance of General Lane?” Clark asked.

“Sadly, we don’t have enough proof. The man we believe was employed by Luthor to set it up has disappeared.”

Lois snorted. “Yeah, good luck finding him. People who work for Lex have a bad habit of vanishing.”

“When your father returned to the States, he contacted me, telling me his own suspicions. When we found out he was retiring, I asked him if he’d like to come on board as a consultant.”

“You’re the interview he has set up for Monday?” Lois asked.

He nodded. “Technically it’s with Lucius. I’m only sitting in.” He smiled at them. “Does that answer all your questions?”

“Yes and no,” Clark replied. “What do you really want with the Guardian?”


	28. Washout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conversation with Bruce takes a disappointing turn. Clark plans to go to the fortress for his training.

Bruce sat back as if carefully considering his answer. Clark glanced at his girlfriend, waiting for the other man to respond.

“I don’t want anything with the Guardian,” Bruce said.

“Then why the song and dance?” Lois asked.

“I wanted to know if he was friend or foe. I’m sure you’re familiar with the term: ‘Know thy enemy’?”

Clark glowered at him. “I’m not your enemy,” he stated flatly. 

“Well, that depends on your perspective, now doesn’t it? You see, humans are inherently suspicious of anything or anyone who appears different from them. You seem to have struck the mother-lode of abilities. Most people would feel threatened by that. Lex Luthor, for example.”

“Are you saying he’s threatened by me?”

“By you, personally?” Bruce asked, shooting him a long look. “I would say not, but by the Guardian? Yes, I would think he is very threatened.”

Lois huffed in annoyance.

“If he doesn’t know Clark is the Guardian, then why all the games? Why the offer to Clark to buy his farm? Why any of this?”

“I don’t think Lex’s offer to buy the farm has anything to do with Clark personally. Lex may suspect there is something different about him, but I doubt he even has an inkling of what your boyfriend is capable of. No, I think in Lex’s mind, he wants the land because he thinks there is something special about it.”

“What do you mean?” Clark asked, confused. 

“The town of Smallville was ground zero for what could be considered an almost cataclysmic event over twenty years ago. We both know the meteors that struck back then held some strange properties and caused mutagenic effects in its population. Yet Martha and Jonathan Kent were curiously untouched by such an event. Their farmhouse and its surrounds managed to avoid being hit by the meteors.”

Clark remembered when Chloe pointed out the same anomaly, saying the ship could have been generating some kind of protection shield. The theory still didn’t hold much water though.

“So did a few other places,” Lois pointed out. “That doesn’t mean there was anything special on that farm.”

“Not by itself, no. But when you are someone like Lex Luthor, you study the data and add two and two together until you reach the conclusion you want to see. As I said, he suspects there is something different about Clark. Why else would someone like Lionel Luthor involve himself in the affairs of a farmer and his wife?”

That was true, Clark thought. The papers left in the safety deposit box told him that his parents had made a deal with Lionel Luthor, who had created a fake adoption agency and had papers drawn up to make it all look legal. It probably wouldn’t have held up in court.

That still didn’t tell him anything about Bruce and what he thought of the situation.

“What about you? What conclusion did you come to?” Clark asked. 

“That I shouldn’t make any conclusions without getting to know you better. I learned a long time ago not to make snap judgements. I’m not saying I trust you, but if I do know one thing, it is that Lois Lane is not the type to trust indiscriminately. She obviously cares about you a great deal, or else she wouldn’t have come here in an effort to protect you, but she wouldn’t be with you if she had any doubts of her own.”

Clark glanced at Lois and she sent him a loving smile before she turned back to Bruce.

“You’re damned right I wouldn’t,” she said. “I know Clark and he is no threat. All he wants is to help people.”

“Admirable, to be sure, but your boyfriend needs to be aware that not everyone will feel the same as you, Lois. Even Batman has his detractors among the members of Gotham’s citizenry. You need to be prepared for some backlash,” he added, looking at Clark.

Bruce leaned forward. “Top of your priority list is making sure that there is nothing at that farm that can be discovered.”

Clark had no idea if the other man knew of the ship or that it was hidden in the storm cellar, but he did have a point. Lex had already had researchers on the property, ostensibly looking for pesticides. He had to get that ship to the fortress somehow. 

Lois looked at him and nodded slowly. She knew what he was thinking.

“Now, the other problem we have is Lex. While he may not feel threatened by you personally, he will feel he has lost Lois to you and that makes him dangerous.”

“He’s already done all he can to me,” Clark said. “I lost my internship and my apartment.”

“That may be so, but the Lex I know can be extremely petty. However, if my sources are on the up-and-up, Lex Luthor may find himself at the wrong end of an investigation into his business practices. Particularly his purchase of the Daily Planet.”

“We have some information on a former member of the board,” Lois said.

Bruce waved his hand. “Way ahead of you. I have had my own ways of getting information and I know McCullough has been a frequent visitor to the Windgate Club.”

“Well, if you know …”

“Trust me, it won’t be long before McCullough is cornered. I suggest you stay out of this, Lois.”

“Hell no. The Daily Planet is my paper and I’m going to fight for it.”

“You may not have a paper to fight for, Lois. My own source within LexCorp tells me that Luthor’s aim was to have you turn to him, firstly because of what had happened to your father and secondly for troubles within the Planet itself.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The Daily Planet was in financial trouble before Luthor bought it out. He made it vulnerable for takeover and he intended to drive it into the ground.”

“Why?” Clark asked.

“It’s not like the man had feelings for me,” Lois replied.

“No, you’re right about that. He figured if you lost your father and your job within a short space of time, he could provide a shoulder for you to cry on. Lex has always had high ambitions and who better to help him win over the people than his very own press agent?”

She stared at him. “Do you mean to tell me that he would have had my father killed just so he could manipulate his way into the White House? How despicable can you get?”

“Well, of course. Little things like ethics and scruples never enter into the equation when there is the proverbial throne at stake.”

“So, how do we stop him?”

“You don’t. He’s covered his tracks very well. You won’t find anything incriminating.”

“But you just said he’s under investigation,” Clark pointed out. 

“There won’t be any proof Lex bribed the board members to let him buy out the Daily Planet. The only thing the investigation will show is that each board member was given an exorbitant amount of money for their shares.”

“That’s still bribery in my book,” Lois replied. 

“It won’t look that way on paper, I assure you.”

Clark sighed. From the way Bruce was talking, the investigation would be a waste of time.

“Now I wouldn’t go drawing any hasty conclusions,” Bruce said when Clark voiced his thoughts. “If I’m right, the investigators will eventually come to the conclusion that there were some irregularities in the purchase of the Daily Planet.”

“Irregularities?” Lois asked, sounding incredulous. “How is that going to help?”

“They may declare the purchase invalid.”

“What about what Lex did to my father in Afghanistan? The way he orchestrated Dad’s disappearance?”

“As I said, the man who aided Lex in his scheme has vanished. I’m afraid it’s a dead-end.”

“I’m not going to drop the matter,” Lois said stubbornly. “Lex has to pay for what he’s done.”

“I wish you luck, then, Lois,” Bruce replied. He rose from his chair. “As much as I would like to continue this conversation, I have other things I need to attend to.” He held out a hand in front of Clark. “Clark. I’m sure in the future we may be of use to each other.”

Lois was grumbling as they left the building. Clark did his best to placate her but she clearly wasn’t in the mood.

“Who does he think he is?” she said. “Of all the arrogant …”

“It’s not like he doesn’t have a point,” he said quietly. She looked at him incredulously.

“You actually agree with him?” she asked.

“Sort of. I mean, he’s right about people being suspicious.”

She sighed. “I guess you’re right.” She opened her car door. “Do you want to come back to my place for lunch?”

He nodded. Lunch sounded great. At least they could talk without fear of being overheard. 

They bought sandwiches at the same bakery where Clark’s friend Lisa worked. The girl was busy serving but as soon as she saw him she smiled and waved. She finished up with her customer and came over to serve them.

“Hi Clark.” She was practically glowing with happiness.

“Hey Lisa. This is my girlfriend, Lois.”

“Hi, Lois.” Her eyes widened as she took in who she was speaking to. “Wow, you’re Lois Lane! You work at the newspaper.”

“That’s right,” Lois replied. “Clark’s told me all about you. How are you?”

“Oh, I’m great. Guess what?” She was practically bouncing up and down. “I got a call from a friend of yours,” she told Clark. “Mr Queen. He said he’s going to help me apply for a hardship grant with his company so I can go to college after all. Isn’t that awesome?”

“That’s wonderful,” Lois told her with a bright grin. She nudged Clark. “You can’t help yourself, can you?” she added. 

“Oh, I think it’s cool,” Lisa returned. “I wish there were more people like Clark.”

Clark knew there was no guarantee, but given Lisa’s background, he felt sure she had a far better chance than a lot of kids her age. She had an excellent grade point average and already knew what she wanted to do with her life. Not many girls her age did. The fact that she also worked hard at her job spoke volumes about her. 

They left the bakery a short time later. Lois kept grinning at him.

“What?” he asked.

“You really are a guardian angel,” she said.

“I just talked to Oliver,” he said modestly. 

“You did more than talk to him. I mean, maybe she might have a bit of competition for the grant, but you’ve given her hope for the future and that means everything.”

He shrugged. “I did what anyone else would do.”

She shook her head. “But not everyone else would do what you did. That’s what I mean. It’s not just your powers, Clark, it’s your heart. That’s what makes me love you more.”

They ate lunch at her table, sipping cappuccinos. Lois told him her father was arriving on the early afternoon train from Edge City. 

“You will come with me to pick him up, won’t you?” she said.

Clark considered it for a few moments. Bruce had warned him to clear the farm of anything that Lex might uncover about his heritage and he wanted to sort that out. 

“I really need to get the ship away from the farm.”

“Honey, I doubt Lex is going to go invade the farm today. I heard he had a business trip to D.C. early this morning.”

“Do you keep tabs on everyone or just Lex?”

“Actually, Chloe’s the one who keeps tabs,” she said. “She sent me a text earlier telling me Lex flew to Washington at nine this morning.”

He nodded. It shouldn’t really surprise him that Chloe would keep such a close eye on Luthor. 

He supposed he could discuss the problem with Jor-El first. Speaking of whom, he thought, remembering his promise to the A.I. at the fortress.

“There’s something I need to tell you,” he said.

“What is it?” Lois asked.

“My father, well, the A.I up at the fortress, wants me to go for training. One day a week. Since I have classes for a couple more weeks, I can only go on weekends. I thought tomorrow …”

She nodded. “This training is important to you, honey. And it’ll give me the chance to spend a day with my dad.”

“You’re not upset?”

“Like I said, it’s important to you, and that makes it just as important to me. We’re in this together now.”

He smiled at her. “You’re amazing, Lois Lane.”

She grinned and pressed a kiss to his mouth. “Rightbackatcha!”

***

Lois couldn’t help thinking back to the conversation with Bruce as they waited for the train to come in. She was still furious at the man for his tactics, although she had to admit her own tactics hadn’t been much better. Breaking into the man’s office, not to mention his private vault, probably hadn’t been the most ethical thing to do. 

Even she had to agree with a few things the Gotham billionaire had said. Lex was a highly intelligent man – a genius, really. He probably rarely made mistakes when covering his tracks and it was never going to be easy proving he was behind a lot of the scams she’d been investigating.

Bruce seemed reasonably confident that the Better Business Bureau, or whatever authority investigated things like the buyout of the Daily Planet, would find something wrong with the purchase, but it was still a lot of maybes. Lex wasn’t going to give up the paper easily and it could possibly be a long, drawn-out battle. 

She wondered now if the people who had left the paper when Lex took over really had left or if he’d forced them out. It certainly seemed plausible, especially after what he’d done to Clark. He’d reached new heights of pettiness when he’d found out she and Clark were together. Now that he had lost his chance with her, she also wondered if Lex would just destroy the paper anyway. 

She felt her boyfriend squeeze her hand and looked up. The train was just coming in. She couldn’t help feeling a little excited. It had been just over a week since her father had gone to stay with her sister, three weeks since Clark and Bart had rescued him from the terrorist group. 

She smiled at Clark, thinking about how quickly things had happened between them. She’d only known him a few months but so much had happened in that short time. Here she was, probably the world’s biggest cynic when it came to love, but she’d fallen hard for the man.

She still remembered her father’s advice about not wasting a single moment. God knew, he understood completely what it was like to lose the love of his life and she never wanted to feel that pain. Clark, too, knew what it was like to lose someone he loved. Maybe he hadn’t been in love with Lana, but he’d still loved her enough to marry her. 

Lately when she thought about the future, all she could think about was Clark. The few nights he’d slept with her in her bed had been the best nights she could ever remember. She’d always been fairly independent but those nights she had felt somehow safe. It wasn’t that he was the Guardian, although she was sure that had to be part of it. Nor was it that he was over-protective. Clark wasn’t like that. He understood she could take care of herself. After all, she’d been doing that since she was six-years-old. But even an independent person wanted to feel comfort from another person sometimes. 

“Lo?”

She grinned at her father, going to him and wrapping her arms around him in a big bear hug. 

“Daddy!” He was red-faced and sweating profusely. It was a warm day although it was not quite summer yet.

“It’s good to get out of that train,” her father told her, explaining that the carriage’s air-conditioning unit had broken down and they had been sweltering. There had been children running around, creating nuisances of themselves and he’d wanted to reprimand them.

“I tell you, when you and Lucy were that age, you would never have acted up like that.”

He thrust a hand out and grinned at Clark. “Hello Clark. You’re looking well.”

“You too, sir.” The man smiled and nodded his agreement.

“Nothing like spending time with the family to make you see what’s really important.”

Lois hooked an arm in her father’s as Clark volunteered to grab the General’s bag.

“So, a little bird tells me you’re interviewing with Wayne Enterprises on Monday,” she said. 

Sam Lane looked at her, eyebrows raised in surprise. “Now how did you manage to find that out, young lady?”

“We met Bruce Wayne,” Clark said. “We were talking to him about perhaps taking over the Daily Planet.”

“I see. Yes, Mr Wayne is just sitting in on the meeting, but they’re interested in bringing me on board as a consultant for some of their military projects. You don’t mind, do you, sweetheart?” he asked, looking at her.

She shook her head. “Of course not, Daddy. I think it would be a wonderful job for you.”

“Truth is, I’d been thinking about retiring long before I went on that inspection tour. What happened over in Afghanistan made the decision a lot easier.” 

Lois drove them back to her apartment and Clark put her father’s bag in the spare room. The General settled on the couch with a cup of coffee. 

“So, what’s been happening? What about this accident?”

“Dad, that’s … we’ve been looking into it and the police are looking into it. They had someone but he, um, died.”

“Died?” Her father appeared stunned. 

“The police think it might have been some kind of overdose,” Clark explained. 

“I see. And nothing else, since?”

“We did find out that he’s sort of a go-to guy for some of the criminal gangs in Gotham,” Lois told her father. “Unless the police can find out who hired him it’s pretty much a dead end.”

“I’m not sure I like the idea of someone gunning for you, Lo,” he said.

“Dad, I know you worry, but I’m fine. Anyway, we have our suspicions.”

“You mean, Lex,” he stated. “I’ve been talking to Perry and he came to the same conclusion. Although I’m not sure I understand why he would put you in danger just to test the Guardian.”

Clark spoke up.

“To be honest, sir, we don’t understand it either, but from what Chloe’s fiancé told us, Lex has always come up with these sorts of schemes only to have them blow up in his face.”

“Hmm, yes, speaking of whom, what do you know about Oliver Queen?”

“Daddy, really,” Lois said in exasperation. “You’re not going to test this man the same way you tested all my ex-boyfriends, are you?”

Her father grinned like the sly old fox he was. “Who? Me? No, but I might make a few enquiries and leave it to your Uncle Gabe to deal with.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Daddy, behave!”

Clark laughed at both of them. “I suppose I should be glad you never tested me, sir.”

The General looked at him. “Well, who says I didn’t, but I know my daughter. I knew the moment I saw you two together it was something special. Kind of like my Ella and me.”

“What do you mean?” Lois asked. She remembered the day her father had gone to the Daily Planet to talk to Clark and she’d tracked them down to a coffee shop. She’d basically ordered Clark back to work then told her father off for checking out her boyfriends behind her back. 

“Like I told you, Lo, it takes a strong man to handle you and Clark’s your man. I could tell from the way you talked to each other.” He grinned at Clark. “Lois is a lot like her mother. Won’t take nonsense from anyone. Good to see you give as good as you get.”

Clark smiled back at him and sipped his coffee. Lois couldn’t help ducking her head and blushing when he shot her a look full of promise of things to come. She remembered something she’d either read or seen in a movie and couldn’t help thinking the same thing. There was something about this man that made her feel gooey all over. 

Her father’s smile at her was a knowing one. 

They continued to chat for the rest of the afternoon. The General was concerned when he learned Clark had been evicted from his apartment and their theory as to why.

“Damn that man. I talked to a friend in the NSA but there was nothing he could tell me that would point either way to Luthor being guilty of anything except being a complete tool,” he told them. 

“Our source pretty much said the same thing,” Lois replied. “He’s covered his tracks. Even when it looks unethical, he can wriggle out of it.” She sighed.

“We’ll get him,” Clark told her. “Eventually he’ll slip up.”

She brightened. He was right. Lex was arrogant enough that he might overlook something and the mistake would cost him. That didn’t mean, however, that she was going to let it lie. Someone, somewhere, had to talk. 

Clark decided to take them out to dinner. Lois was concerned that he might be spending too much money but he assured her it was okay. The General was more than happy with the diner she’d gone to with Clark a few weeks earlier, commenting that he’d never really been the kind of man to enjoy going out to fancy restaurants.

“Did you do that with Mom when you were dating?” she asked. 

He grinned. “I remember once I took your Mom to this fancy restaurant near Boston. The food was awful and damned expensive. Cost me about a week’s salary and then some. When we left, your mother turned to me and told me I didn’t need to take her to some fancy place to impress her. She was already impressed.”

She smiled at her father. “I had dinner with Clark at this diner a few weeks ago. They make the best hamburgers I’ve ever tasted.”

“I’ll have to give them a try then.” He smiled at the waitress. It was the same girl who had served her and Clark on their first visit. “My daughter tells me your hamburgers are the best she’s ever tasted.”

“Yes sir, our cook makes them fresh. I hope you brought your appetite as they are pretty big.”

“Young lady, I’m used to army rations and believe you me, when they say rations, they mean rations. I’m hungry enough to eat an army’s worth.”

“Well, that’s good, sir. How about I start you with one hamburger with the works and we’ll see how you go from there.”

“You’ve got a deal.”

Clark hid a grin behind his menu as the General continued to chat with the waitress. Lois returned the grin, loving how relaxed her father was. She was reminded of a night when she had been very little, going to a similar establishment with her parents. Lucy had been just a baby and it had been a rare night out. Her father had pretended to flirt with a waitress just to tease her mom. 

She remembered the way his eyes would twinkle when he looked at her mother. His face would light up when she walked into the room. The light had gone out when Ella died.

“Everything okay?” Clark whispered in her ear.

She looked at him, now understanding what those looks between her parents had meant. When she saw Clark, she realised she felt the same – that the world was so much brighter when he was around. 

“I’m just remembering something about my parents,” she said. “It’s sort of a bittersweet memory.”

He nodded. “Sometimes I smell a perfume or hear a laugh like my dad’s and I feel them.”

Her father reached across the table and squeezed her hand. 

“I miss your mother but then I look at you and Lucy and it’s like she’s with me. I’m so proud of you, Lo. I know your mom would be too.”

“Thank you, Daddy.”

When they got back to her apartment, her father went to his room to unpack his things. Lois sat on the couch with Clark’s arm wrapped around her shoulders.

“I wish I didn’t have to go to the fortress tomorrow,” he said.

She turned and looked at him, placing a hand on his chest. She knew that Lana had tried to hold him back from using his abilities to help people but she didn’t want to be that kind of person. 

She remembered her parents had often argued over her father’s job and as a teenager she’d thought that her father had put his job before his family. Now that she was older and in a relationship with someone who had a similar kind of calling she understood that her father had needed her mother to ground him, to provide a respite from all the things he’d seen and done while on his missions. It was her turn to be there for Clark.

“Honey, I meant what I said. This training is important to you. I’m not going to be one of those girlfriends who demands you spend each and every minute of every day with me. As much as I need you, the world needs you too.”

“I want you to know that no matter what, you will always come first with me.”

“I know,” she said, placing a brief kiss on his lips. “I know.” She played with the buttons on his shirt. “This thing with Lex, it’s nothing that can’t wait until Monday. He’s not going to go anywhere. Like I said, I’m not planning on doing anything but spending the day with my dad.”

He kissed her. “Thank you for being so understanding.”

He left a short time later, promising to call her once he’d returned from the fortress. She let him go with a kiss and a smile.


End file.
